Mexico now requires performers' consent, and a contract, before anyone clones their voice with AI

Mexico has passed a law on AI voice cloning, and it has been in force since May. A decree amending the Federal Copyright Law (LFDA) and the Federal Labor Law (LFT) was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 14 May 2026 and took effect the next day. Congress approved the text on 15 Apr 2026 and President Claudia Sheinbaum signed it on 11 May. All translations from the Spanish below are ours.

Is this a bill or a law?

It's a law. It is easy to confuse with a separate initiative filed in March. On 18 Mar 2026 Deputy Ciria Yamile Salomón Durán of the Green Party (PVEM) filed a separate initiative to amend Article 118 again. It would require "express authorization and fair and proportional remuneration" for any AI use not foreseen in a performer's original contract. That phrase comes from the initiative. It is not in the decree that was enacted, and we could not confirm what has happened to the initiative since it was filed.

What does the new law actually require?

The decree changes about two dozen articles. These are the ones that matter for musicians:

• Voice is part of your image, and that includes AI output. Article 87 now says a performer's image, "including the voice", and their characters can be used only with express consent. The protection "covers results generated by artificial intelligence systems or any other technology".
• Payment for one use isn't consent to every use. If a performer was paid specifically for use of their image, the law presumes they consented "only for the purposes and modalities expressly agreed". Any other use needs new authorization and new pay.
• A new right against AI impersonation. Article 118 gains a section VII that lets performers control impersonation of their performances by AI "that results in clones of their performances or that simulates their voice in an identifiable way".
• Film and TV producers need it in writing. A general audiovisual contract no longer covers voice or image cloning. That requires "a prior written agreement between the parties" (Article 121).
• Your employment contract has to spell it out. The new LFT Article 305 Bis says labor contracts with performers must state "specifically the conditions and the corresponding remuneration" for using their image or voice through AI or any other technology.
• Dubbing and voice-over now count. The definition of performer (Article 116) now names announcers, commercial announcers and dubbing actors alongside singers and musicians. Extras and occasional participants are still excluded.
• Unclear clauses go the performer's way. Under a new paragraph in Article 120, a doubtful contract clause is read in the way most favorable to the performer.

Breaking Article 87 or 118(VII) becomes an infringement under Article 231, with fines of 5,000 to 40,000 days of minimum wage under Article 232. Chevez Ruiz Zamarripa's summary for Legal 500 says this applies to conduct for direct or indirect profit and that the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) imposes the fines. It puts the fines in UMA, Mexico's official reference unit, rather than in days of minimum wage. The decree text we read uses minimum wage, as does Garrigues' summary.

How is this different from the ELVIS Act and NO FAKES?

Tennessee's ELVIS Act, signed on 21 Mar 2024, added "voice" to the state's existing law on the use of a person's likeness. It covers one state. The federal NO FAKES Act would create a national right over voice and likeness. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it unanimously in June 2026, but Sen. Ted Cruz's objection on the Senate floor stalled it before the midterm recess (our coverage).

Mexico took a different route. It put voice protection inside copyright and neighboring-rights law and inside labor law, which reach the whole country. Performers can enforce it through IMPI fines and through mediation and arbitration at INDAUTOR, the national copyright office, which the decree now allows online. They don't have to start a lawsuit.

What we think

The labor-law clause matters most for working musicians, more than the ban on clones. Under Article 305 Bis, AI use of a performer's voice has to be written into the employment contract with its own conditions and pay. Every session, dubbing job or touring contract under Mexican labor law now has to deal with AI explicitly. Combined with Article 87's rule that payment covers only the uses agreed, this cuts against the catch-all contract language that lets a producer reuse a recording however it likes. Labels, studios and dubbing houses will have to price AI rights separately. That moves money toward performers, but only if they read what they sign.

The exceptions need watching. Article 87 lists two situations in which there is no violation. The first is parody, satire or creative imitation. The second, read literally, is any use that is not a clone or impersonation that misleads the public or aims to replace the artist's professional work. Section VII of Article 118 sets a similar bar: the voice has to be "identifiable", and the impersonation has to aim at, or result in, replacing the performer. Our reading, which is not legal advice, is that a vague sound-alike that fools nobody and takes no jobs may fall outside the law. The law targets substitution and deception, not style. That is probably the right line, but a cloned singer will have to show that listeners were misled or that work was lost.

Who gains: dubbing actors and voice-over artists, now named in the law; session players, who get a contract clause to negotiate over; and singers, who get an administrative route to enforcement. Who has to adjust: AI voice platforms with Mexican users, and producers using old templates. The decree gave the government 60 days from 15 May to update the copyright regulations. We could not find a published update, so details of enforcement may still change.

What should a performer working in Mexico do now?

• Check any contract signed since 15 May 2026 for a clause covering AI use of your voice or image, with its own terms and fee. The law requires one in labor contracts.
• Treat any new use of your voice as a new deal. Under Article 87, payment for one use doesn't license others.
• Keep evidence if you find a clone of your voice: links, dates, and anything that shows listeners mistook it for you or that it took your work. The law's tests depend on that.
• Before going to court, ask about INDAUTOR's mediation or conciliation.