Pennsylvania Digital Forgery Law (SB 649 / Act 35 of 2025)

Properties

kind: law
target: voice-and-likeness
jurisdiction: US, Pennsylvania
mechanism: Creates a new criminal offense, digital forgery, at 18 Pa.C.S. 4101.1: producing or distributing an AI-generated forged image, video, or audio (including a cloned voice) of a real person with intent to defraud or injure. Base offense is a first-degree misdemeanor, escalating to a third-degree felony when used in a fraud scheme.
status: in-effect
owns: Criminal mechanism (fraud/injury intent, misdemeanor-to-felony escalation) rather than a civil right-of-publicity claim like tn-elvis-act; explicitly reaches voice-cloning scam scenarios such as a cloned grandchild's voice used to solicit money.
source: Pennsylvania General Assembly, Act No. 35 of 2025 law information
notes: Signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro July 7, 2025; effective approximately 60 days later (about September 5, 2025) per the governor's office. Predates the 2026-07-11 window; included as backfill of an untracked, in-scope law given the catalogue currently has only two entities.

kind: law
target: voice-and-likeness
jurisdiction: US, Pennsylvania
mechanism: Creates a new criminal offense, digital forgery, at 18 Pa.C.S. 4101.1: producing or distributing an AI-generated forged image, video, or audio (including a cloned voice) of a real person with intent to defraud or injure. Base offense is a first-degree misdemeanor, escalating to a third-degree felony when used in a fraud scheme.
status: in-effect
owns: Criminal mechanism (fraud/injury intent, misdemeanor-to-felony escalation) rather than a civil right-of-publicity claim like tn-elvis-act; explicitly reaches voice-cloning scam scenarios such as a cloned grandchild's voice used to solicit money.
source: Pennsylvania General Assembly, Act No. 35 of 2025 law information
notes: Signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro July 7, 2025; effective approximately 60 days later (about September 5, 2025) per the governor's office. Predates the 2026-07-11 window; included as backfill of an untracked, in-scope law given the catalogue currently has only two entities.