Full Text of HB2123 103rd General Assembly
HB2123 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB2123 Introduced 2/7/2023, by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz - Nabeela Syed SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| |
Creates the Digital Forgeries Act. Provides that an individual depicted in a digital forgery has a cause of action against any person who, without the consent of the depicted individual, knowingly distributes a digital forgery, creates a digital forgery with intent to distribute, or solicits the creation of a digital forgery with the intent to distribute: (1) in order to harass, extort, threaten, or cause physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm to an individual falsely depicted; (2) with reckless disregard for whether such a creation, distribution, reproduction, or manipulation will cause physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm to an individual falsely depicted; or (3) in order to incite violence or interfere with an official proceeding. Allows a prevailing plaintiff to be awarded damages, costs, and additional relief. Allows the court to grant injunctive relief maintaining the confidentiality of a plaintiff using a pseudonym.
|
| |
| | A BILL FOR |
|
| | | HB2123 | | LRB103 28426 LNS 54806 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Digital Forgeries Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 7 | | "Digital forgery" means any audio or visual material that | 8 | | has been created, materially manipulated, altered, or | 9 | | annotated to appear to be a realistic record of an act, speech, | 10 | | conduct, absence, or appearance of an individual. | 11 | | "Official proceeding" includes any federal, State, local, | 12 | | tribal, administrative adjudication, election, or rulemaking | 13 | | proceeding. | 14 | | Section 10. Civil action. | 15 | | (a) An individual depicted in a digital forgery has a | 16 | | cause of action against any person who, without the consent of | 17 | | the depicted individual, knowingly distributes a digital | 18 | | forgery, creates a digital forgery with intent to distribute, | 19 | | or solicits the creation of a digital forgery with the intent | 20 | | to distribute: | 21 | | (1) in order to harass, extort, threaten, or cause | 22 | | physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm to an |
| | | HB2123 | - 2 - | LRB103 28426 LNS 54806 b |
|
| 1 | | individual falsely depicted; | 2 | | (2) with reckless disregard for whether such a | 3 | | creation, distribution, reproduction, or manipulation will | 4 | | cause physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm | 5 | | to an individual falsely depicted; or
| 6 | | (3) in order to incite violence or interfere with an | 7 | | official proceeding.
| 8 | | (b) This Section does not apply to digitally manipulated | 9 | | audiovisual material that is clearly and conspicuously labeled | 10 | | to make clear to a reasonable observer that it is not an | 11 | | authentic record of an act, speech, conduct, absence, or | 12 | | appearance of an individual, unless the material appears to be | 13 | | a sexual image as defined in subsection (14) of Section 5 of | 14 | | the Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private | 15 | | Sexual Images Act.
| 16 | | (c) A depicted individual's consent to the creation of a | 17 | | digital forgery shall not alone establish consent to the | 18 | | distribution of that digital forgery, nor shall consent to | 19 | | previous disclosure of a digital forgery alone establish that | 20 | | the depicted individual consented to subsequent disclosures.
| 21 | | Section 15. Remedies. | 22 | | (a) Under this Act, a prevailing plaintiff may be awarded:
| 23 | | (1) The greater of:
| 24 | | (A) economic and noneconomic damages proximately | 25 | | caused by the creation or distribution of the digital |
| | | HB2123 | - 3 - | LRB103 28426 LNS 54806 b |
|
| 1 | | forgery, including damages for emotional distress | 2 | | regardless of whether they are accompanied by other | 3 | | damages; or
| 4 | | (B) statutory damages not to exceed $10,000 | 5 | | against each defendant found liable under this Act for | 6 | | all disclosures and threatened disclosures by the | 7 | | defendant of which the plaintiff knew or reasonably | 8 | | should have known when filing the action or that | 9 | | became known during the pendency of the action.
| 10 | | (2) An amount equal to any monetary gain made by the | 11 | | defendant from the creation, distribution, or solicitation | 12 | | of creation of the digital forgery.
| 13 | | (3) Punitive damages.
| 14 | | (4) The costs of the action, including reasonable | 15 | | attorney's fees and other reasonable litigation costs. | 16 | | (5) Additional relief, including equitable relief, | 17 | | such as a temporary restraining order, a preliminary | 18 | | injunction, or a permanent injunction ordering the | 19 | | defendant to cease the display or disclosure of the | 20 | | digital forgery.
| 21 | | (b) This Act does not affect a right or remedy available | 22 | | under any other law of this State.
| 23 | | Section 20. Preservation of Anonymity. In ordering relief | 24 | | under this Act, the court may grant injunctive relief | 25 | | maintaining the confidentiality of a plaintiff using a |
| | | HB2123 | - 4 - | LRB103 28426 LNS 54806 b |
|
| 1 | | pseudonym.
| 2 | | Section 25. Severability. The provisions of this Act are | 3 | | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
|
|