Cause of action established for misappropriation of an individual's name, likeness, or voice.
HF4078 creates a new Minnesota statutory cause of action for misappropriation of an individual’s name, likeness, or voice. It gives a person an exclusive property right in those attributes, allows the right to be transferred or licensed, and makes the right descendible after death. A person with rights to the name, likeness, or voice may sue in district court when another person uses them for commercial purposes without written authorization.
The bill sets out a detailed framework for postmortem rights and enforcement. The civil action survives for 10 years after death, with possible five-year extensions if there was authorized commercial use within specified periods, but no claim may be maintained 70 years or more after death. It also tolls the statute of limitations until the plaintiff discovers the misappropriation and authorizes damages, profits, attorney fees, treble damages for knowing violations, and injunctive relief. The bill includes exceptions for protected speech and expressive uses such as news, public affairs, sports broadcasts, commentary, criticism, scholarship, satire, parody, fleeting or incidental uses, and certain advertisements for protected works.
The bill would add a new section to Minnesota Statutes chapter 604 and would not eliminate other remedies available under state or federal law. It also establishes venue and jurisdiction rules for cases brought under the new section. The effective date is August 1, 2026, and the law would apply only to causes of action accruing on or after that date.
Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, the available context shows no documented debate or formal legislative sentiment. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears aimed at protecting personal identity rights and commercial exploitation, while preserving First Amendment protections for news and expressive uses. The main likely area of contention is the balance between publicity-rights enforcement and free-speech/media interests, especially around commercial use, satire, parody, and postmortem control of a deceased person’s identity.
HF4078 would create a new statutory right of publicity in Minnesota, codified in chapter 604, by giving individuals and their successors a property-like right to control commercial use of a name, likeness, or voice. It would authorize civil lawsuits for unauthorized commercial use, define key terms, set damages and equitable remedies, and establish post-death survivability and limitations rules. The bill would affect individuals, estates, heirs, licensees, advertisers, media entities, and others who use personal identity in commercial contexts.
No committee discussion or vote history was provided, so there is no recorded legislative sentiment to summarize from the available materials. From the bill’s structure, the proposal appears protective of individual and estate rights, but it also includes multiple carveouts for constitutionally protected speech, suggesting an effort to balance privacy/publicity interests with First Amendment concerns.
The likely points of contention are the scope of the new property right, the length of postmortem protection, and how broadly “commercial purpose” is defined. Media organizations, advertisers, and creators may be concerned about litigation risk, while supporters would likely emphasize protection against unauthorized exploitation of a person’s identity, including digital simulations or voice cloning. The bill’s explicit exceptions for news, commentary, satire, parody, and incidental uses are designed to address free-speech concerns, but disputes may still arise over whether a particular use is commercial or expressive.