Unauthorized use of name, picture, voice, or likeness (statutory right of privacy and publicity)
VA right of publicity
Other · Marketing · Artificial intelligence
Virginia's only statutory privacy tort: a person, or a deceased person's spouse or next of kin, may sue to stop and recover damages for the use of their name, portrait, picture, voice, or likeness for advertising or trade without written consent (a parent's consent for minors).
- Where
- Virginia
- Citation
- Va. Code § 8.01-40
- Status
- In force
- Last amended
- 2026-07-01
- Enforced by
- Private civil action
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Injunction and damages for injuries sustained; punitive damages if the use was knowing; suits barred more than 20 years after the person's death (8.01-40).
- Applies to
- Any person, firm, or corporation that uses a person's name, portrait, picture, voice, or likeness for advertising or trade purposes without written consent
Practices it requires
- Obtain written consent (from a parent for a minor, or from the surviving spouse or next of kin for a deceased person) before using a person's name, portrait, picture, voice, or likeness for advertising or trade.Va. Code § 8.01-40(A)
Sources
- Official text
- Va. Code § 8.01-40 (Virginia Law, law.lis.virginia.gov)
- 2025 HB 2462 (digital replica bill; failed to pass from conference 2025-02-22) bill history (Virginia LIS)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Origin predates the 1950 Code (Code 1950, § 8-650), so no first effective date is given. The 2026 amendments (2026, cc. 629, 630) appear in the history note; their bill numbers and whether they added 'voice' were not confirmed, and last_amended 2026-07-01 assumes the default July 1 date.
Research reference, not legal advice.