SB 683: Privacy: use of a person's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness: injunctive relief. - California

09/03/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/16/25 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Sep 16, 2025

MINOR

SB 683 transitioned from its Amended Assembly version to the Enrolled (final) version. Two substantive changes were made to Section 3344 of the Civil Code: the employee incidental-use rebuttable presumption was removed, and a new provision was added extending the definition of 'voice or likeness' to include digital replicas as defined in Section 3344.1. All other changes are formatting-related, reflecting the bill's final enrolled form with passage dates and signature blocks.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the rebuttable presumption that applied when an employee's photograph or likeness appeared incidentally (not essentially) in a publication prepared by or on behalf of the user. Previously, this created a presumption that the failure to obtain the employee's consent was not a 'knowing' use, making it harder for employees to win privacy claims against their employers.

DEFINITION

Added new subdivision (f) stating that for purposes of Section 3344, a 'voice or likeness' includes a digital replica as defined in Section 3344.1. This extends the bill's privacy protections to cover AI-generated or other digitally created replicas of a person's voice or likeness.

TECHNICAL

Removed all legislative counsel line-number markup (line X indicators) that showed prior amendment changes, and reformatted the document into final enrolled bill format with Senate and Assembly passage dates (September 10-11, 2025), Secretary/Clerk signature lines, and Governor approval block.

09/16/25 - Enrolled → 10/10/25 - Chaptered · 2 edits · Oct 10, 2025

MINOR

The diff between the Enrolled and Chaptered versions of SB 683 contains only formatting and administrative changes associated with the bill being signed into law. The Governor approved the bill on October 10, 2025, and it was assigned Chapter 590. No substantive policy language was altered.

TECHNICAL

The enrolled bill header (Senate/Assembly passage dates, clerk signatures, Governor receipt line) was replaced with the standard chaptered format: 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL,' Chapter 590 designation, and the approval date of October 10, 2025.

Page numbering in the statutory text changed from page 94 to page 93, reflecting re-pagination in the official chaptered publication.

10/10/25 - Chaptered → SB683 · 1 edit

MINOR

The diff reflects a change in document format rather than substantive legal content. The 'from' version is the official chaptered statute (Chapter 590) with printed page numbers and formatting, while the 'to' version is a web-based rendering of the same bill text that includes website navigation elements (links, search boxes, menu items). The actual legal provisions of Section 3344 as amended are substantively identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official chaptered statute layout (with page numbers, line breaks, and printed formatting) to a web page rendering that includes navigation menus, search fields, bill tracking links, and other UI elements. No changes were made to the substantive legal text of Section 3344, Section 1.5, or Section 2.

06/18/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/03/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Sep 3, 2025

MODERATE

The September 2025 amendment to SB 683 adds a new Section 1.5 that coordinates with SB 11, incorporating combined amendments to Civil Code Section 3344 that only take effect if both bills are enacted and SB 683 is enacted last. The most significant substantive change in the coordinated version is a new definition stating that 'voice or likeness' includes a digital replica as defined in Section 3344.1, extending privacy protections to AI-generated likenesses and voices. The bill also simplifies the temporary restraining order compliance language and makes gender-neutral pronoun changes throughout.

Scope change

The bill's scope expands in the coordinated version (Section 1.5) to explicitly cover digital replicas of a person's voice or likeness, bringing AI-generated content within the privacy protections of Section 3344. The coordination mechanism with SB 11 also means the final operative text depends on the relative enactment timing of both bills.

SCOPE

New Section 1.5 adds a coordination mechanism with SB 11: if both bills are enacted by January 1, 2026, both amend Section 3344, and SB 683 is enacted after SB 11, then the combined version (Section 1.5) takes effect and the original Section 1 does not.

DEFINITION

In the coordinated Section 1.5 version, a new subdivision (f) defines that 'voice or likeness' includes a digital replica as defined in Section 3344.1, extending the privacy statute to cover AI-generated or synthetic replicas of a person's voice or appearance.

REQUIREMENT

The temporary restraining order compliance deadline language was simplified from 'unless the order requires faster compliance, otherwise required by the order' (redundant and confusing) to simply 'unless otherwise required by the order.'

TECHNICAL

Gender-neutral pronoun changes throughout: 'his or her' replaced with 'their,' 'him or her' replaced with 'them,' and minor wording clarifications such as 'the person's' becoming 'that person's' or 'such that person's.'

03/25/25 - Amended Senate → 04/10/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 10, 2025

MINOR

The April 10 amendment removed a technical, nonsubstantive amendment to Family Code Section 2201 (relating to subsequent marriages being illegal and void), narrowing the bill to focus solely on privacy protections under Civil Code Section 3344. It also refined the injunctive relief provision in Section 3344(a)(2) to specifically limit the two-business-day compliance deadline to orders requiring removal, recall, or cessation of publication or distribution of a person's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness.

SCOPE

The entire amendment to Family Code Section 2201 was removed. That section dealt with when a subsequent marriage is illegal and void (e.g., if the former spouse is absent for five years or reputed dead). The change was described as technical and nonsubstantive, but its removal means the bill no longer touches marriage law at all.

REQUIREMENT

Section 3344(a)(2) was narrowed. Previously, any order granted under subdivision (c) of Code of Civil Procedure Section 527 triggered a two-business-day compliance deadline. Now the deadline only applies when the order specifically requires the respondent to remove, recall, or cease publication or distribution of the petitioner's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness.

TECHNICAL

Gender-neutral pronoun changes throughout Section 3344 (e.g., 'his or her' changed to 'their', 'such the person's' changed to 'the person's'). These are nonsubstantive drafting updates.

04/10/25 - Amended Senate → 06/18/25 - Amended Assembly · 2 edits · Jun 18, 2025

MINOR

The Assembly amendment to SB 683 made two minor clarifying edits to the temporary restraining order compliance provision in Civil Code Section 3344(a)(2). The phrase 'comply with the order' was replaced with the more specific 'complete the removal or recall, or cease the publication or distribution,' and the phrase 'otherwise required by the order' was added after 'unless the order requires faster compliance.' These changes make the required action and timing flexibility more explicit without altering the bill's substantive scope.

TECHNICAL

Replaced the general phrase 'comply with the order' with the specific actions 'complete the removal or recall, or cease the publication or distribution,' making it clearer exactly what the respondent must do within the two-business-day window.

Added the phrase 'otherwise required by the order' after 'unless the order requires faster compliance,' clarifying that any timeframe specified in the order (whether faster or different) controls over the default two-business-day deadline.

02/21/25 - Introduced → 03/25/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Mar 25, 2025

MINOR

The amended version of SB 683 adds a substantial new provision amending Civil Code Section 3344 to allow victims of unauthorized use of their name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness to seek injunctive relief (injunctions or temporary restraining orders) in addition to the existing damages remedies. If a court grants an ex parte TRO without notice to the opposing party, the respondent must comply within 2 business days of service unless the order requires faster compliance. The original marriage provision (Family Code 2201) remains but with minor gender-neutral language updates.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded significantly from a purely technical amendment to marriage law to also include a new substantive enforcement mechanism (injunctive relief) for rights of publicity violations under Civil Code Section 3344.

ENFORCEMENT

New Civil Code 3344(a)(2) allows a party whose name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness was used without consent to seek an injunction or temporary restraining order under Code of Civil Procedure Section 527, in addition to the existing damages and attorney's fee remedies.

TIMELINE

If a court grants a temporary restraining order without notice to the opposing party (ex parte), the respondent must comply within 2 business days from the day the order is served, unless the order requires faster compliance.

TECHNICAL

Family Code Section 2201 (marriage) changes 'his or her' to 'their' for gender-neutral language and restructures paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) for clarity, removing a redundant nested structure around the absent/dead spouse exceptions.

Privacy: use of a person's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness: injunctive relief.

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