New York DEFIANCE Act and Deepfake Intimate Image Lawyer

Federal Law: What Is the DEFIANCE Act?

DEFIANCE stands for Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits. It is a piece of federal legislation specifically designed to give victims of AI-generated intimate imagery a civil cause of action in federal court.

The Senate passed the DEFIANCE Act unanimously on January 13, 2026. The bill is now pending in the House of Representatives, where it has bipartisan support. Once signed into law, it will allow victims to sue anyone who knowingly produces, distributes, solicits, or possesses with intent to distribute an intimate digital forgery of an identifiable person without that person's consent.

What the DEFIANCE Act Would Allow Victims to Recover

The current version of the DEFIANCE Act provides for liquidated damages of $150,000 per violation. If the deepfake was created in connection with sexual assault, stalking, or harassment of the victim, or was the direct cause of such conduct by any person, liquidated damages increase to $250,000. Victims may also recover actual damages, including any profits the defendant made from the content, plus attorney's fees and costs.

The ten-year statute of limitations runs from the date the victim reasonably discovers the images, or from the victim's eighteenth birthday if the victim was a minor when the images were created.

The DEFIANCE Act Covers Both AI-Generated and Manipulated Images

The law applies to any visual depiction created through artificial intelligence, machine learning, software, or other technological means to falsely appear authentic, including nude or sexually explicit depictions of a real identifiable person who did not consent. This covers both fully fabricated images and real photographs that have been digitally altered to remove clothing or add explicit content.

Federal Law Already in Effect: The TAKE IT DOWN Act

Even before the DEFIANCE Act becomes law, federal law already addresses deepfake intimate imagery. The TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed by President Trump on May 19, 2025. It takes two concrete steps.

First, it makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, through an interactive computer service. The criminal prohibition covers publication and certain threats of disclosure. It is not a blanket ban on private creation in every circumstance, but it establishes that the federal government treats the distribution of this content as a serious federal offense.

Second, it requires covered platforms to implement a notice-and-removal process. The statute defines covered platforms and includes exclusions, so not every website is subject to the same obligations. Where the law applies, once a victim submits a valid notice, the platform must remove the content within 48 hours. This is a critical tool for victims dealing with content that has spread to multiple sites.

We use the TAKE IT DOWN Act as part of a broader takedown strategy alongside civil claims, injunctive relief, and direct platform reporting.

New York State Law: You Can Sue Right Now

You do not have to wait for the DEFIANCE Act to become law to take civil action in New York. New York Civil Rights Law section 52-b already provides a private cause of action that covers intimate images created or altered through digitization, including by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

To bring a claim under section 52-b, the defendant must have disseminated or published, or threatened to disseminate or publish, an intimate image of the victim. The statute also requires that the defendant acted for the purpose of harassing, annoying, or alarming the victim, and that the image depicted the victim under circumstances where the victim had a reasonable expectation that it would remain private. The law expressly covers digitally created or altered images, and its definition of digitization includes images produced using software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated means. Courts have begun applying the statute to digitally created or altered images, including AI-generated content, where the statutory elements are otherwise satisfied.

What You Can Recover Under New York Law

Under New York Civil Rights Law section 52-b, a prevailing plaintiff can recover compensatory damages, including damages for mental anguish, as well as punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs. Injunctive relief, meaning a court order requiring the defendant to take down the content and stop all further distribution, is available and is often the most urgent form of relief we seek for clients.

The statute of limitations under section 52-b requires that a claim be filed no later than the later of three years from the date of dissemination or publication, or one year from the date the victim discovered the images or reasonably should have discovered them. If you recently found out about content that was posted years ago, the discovery rule may preserve your ability to bring a claim. Call us to assess the timing in your specific situation.

Who Can You Sue?

Civil liability for deepfake intimate imagery can attach to multiple parties depending on the facts.

The person who disseminated or threatened to disseminate the image. New York Civil Rights Law section 52-b is a dissemination-based statute: the civil claim attaches to the publication, distribution, or threatened disclosure of the image, not to mere creation alone. In many cases the person who creates the image also distributes it, but the key act that triggers civil liability under current New York law is the dissemination. Under the DEFIANCE Act, once enacted, production itself will also be actionable at the federal level.

The person who distributed or shared it. Under both New York law and the DEFIANCE Act framework, distribution without consent is independently actionable. A person who receives a deepfake and sends it to others can face civil liability even if they did not create it.

The person who solicited or commissioned it. Someone who paid for or requested the creation of a deepfake of another person can be held liable as well.

In some cases, multiple defendants are involved, and claims can be pursued against each of them.