You are a creative person who has found out about someone with a compelling story and you’d like to develop a book, TV show or film based on his or her life. But in the middle of your excitement and creative rush, it hits you: “Maybe I need to get permission first… but how?” Here is what you need to know about life rights agreements, how they can help you develop your project and minimize the risk of problems down the road.
What Are Life Rights?
Life rights are the permissions required to use the personal details and characteristics that make up someone’s life, such as their image, name, likeness and experiences.
What Is a Life Rights Agreements?
Simply put, a life rights agreement, also called a life story agreement, is an agreement that grants a person or company the right to purchase and develop someone else’s life story into some type of media. Getting permission to tell another person’s story is important, as almost every state recognizes a person’s right of publicity.
A person’s right of publicity allows that person to prevent the unauthorized commercial use of a name, likeness or other recognizable aspects of identity.
Why Do You Need To Purchase Life Rights?
If you are the one trying to tell a story, a life rights agreement decreases the possibility of a lawsuit in connection with your project. When a person signs a life rights agreement, that person gives a writer, filmmaker, studio or producer permission to tell the story and agrees not to pursue claims involving privacy, defamation or similar issues.
The agreement may also contain adaptation rights. These provisions can simplify development because additional permissions may not be required later. Adaptation rights allow someone to create a derivative work, such as a film, based on a preexisting work, such as a written biography.
A life rights agreement may also benefit the person whose story will be told. If you have a life story that may be marketable, packaging life rights together with adaptation rights can make the project more attractive to creative professionals.
The agreement can also provide a measure of control. By negotiating with the creative team, the subject can gain greater insight into how the story may be presented and who will be responsible for developing it.
What Should a Life Rights Agreement Include?
A life rights agreement should address a broad range of issues, including publicity rights, assignability, releases and the scope of the rights being granted.
The person receiving the rights should obtain an exclusive grant covering the life story as well as photographs, documents and other related materials. This helps prevent competing projects based on the same source material.
Some agreements require the subject to participate in publicity efforts or promotional appearances. Others provide consultation rights or limited approval rights regarding certain aspects of the project.
The filmmaker or producer should also obtain the right to fictionalize events, combine characters and change names when necessary. These provisions can provide flexibility while reducing the risk of disputes involving third parties.
Whenever possible, releases should also be obtained from family members or other individuals who may play a significant role in the story.
What About AI, Digital Replicas and Deepfakes?
Artificial intelligence now allows creators to generate realistic digital versions of a person’s face, voice and mannerisms. Traditional contract language may not adequately address these new technologies.
In New York, a Digital Replica Law took effect on January 1, 2025. The law regulates certain uses of digital simulations of a person’s voice or likeness. It also creates additional protections for deceased performers and public figures.
For example, a producer may be able to create a documentary or docudrama depicting a deceased celebrity. However, using a digital replica of that person to perform a new fictional role may require authorization from the applicable rights holder.
New York expanded those protections again in late 2025. Estates and heirs now have stronger rights to challenge unauthorized uses of digital replicas in audiovisual works, sound recordings and live performances.
California also strengthened its laws on January 1, 2025. A prior exception involving certain entertainment uses of a deceased person’s likeness no longer applies in many digital replica situations. Because California already recognizes post-mortem publicity rights for seventy years after death, these changes carry significant implications for content creators.
Several other states have adopted similar protections. Illinois, Maine and Montana are among the jurisdictions that have enacted or expanded digital replica legislation. As a result, rights clearance has become increasingly complex for projects involving nationwide distribution or individuals connected to multiple states.
At the federal level, lawmakers have proposed the NO FAKES Act. If enacted, the legislation would establish nationwide protections against unauthorized digital replicas and deepfakes. The current proposal would also limit certain licenses involving digital replicas and require greater specificity regarding permitted uses.
The legal landscape is changing quickly. Modern life rights agreements should address artificial intelligence, voice cloning, digital replicas and future technologies directly.
The Myth of Life Rights
Many creators mistakenly believe that life rights are always required before telling a true story. That’s not always the case.
In some circumstances, filmmakers, writers and producers may create works based on publicly available facts without obtaining a life rights agreement. However, doing so can increase exposure to claims involving privacy rights, publicity rights, defamation or related issues.
For that reason, many studios, distributors and production companies prefer to secure life rights whenever possible. Obtaining those rights can make a project easier to develop, finance and distribute.
What If I Can’t Get One?
What if it is impossible to obtain a signed life rights agreement because the subject has already passed away?
In that situation, state law becomes extremely important.
In New York, deceased individuals may retain post-mortem publicity rights for forty years if they were domiciled in New York at the time of death and died after May 29, 2021. California provides post-mortem publicity rights for seventy years after death. Other states recognize similar protections.
As digital replica laws continue to expand, obtaining permission from an estate may become even more important when a project involves AI-generated voices, likenesses or performances.
How Do I Get a Life Rights Agreement?
You are ready to move forward with your project, and a life rights agreement sounds like the next logical step. Now what?
Whether your project involves a traditional biography, documentary, scripted series, feature film or AI-generated digital replica, experienced legal guidance can help protect you. An attorney can evaluate publicity rights, privacy concerns, adaptation rights, digital replica issues and state-specific requirements before problems arise.
Catching these issues early almost always costs far less than resolving a dispute once development is already underway.
Contributions to this blog by Kennedy McKinney.
