Public Act 103-0294
 
HB2123 EnrolledLRB103 28426 LNS 54806 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual
Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Act is amended by
changing Sections 5, 10, 15, and 25 as follows:
 
    (740 ILCS 190/5)
    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    (1) "Child" means an unemancipated individual who is less
than 18 years of age.
    (2) "Consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary
authorization by an individual with legal capacity to give
authorization.
    (3) "Depicted individual" means an individual whose body
is shown, in whole or in part, in a private sexual image.
    (4) "Dissemination" or "disseminate" means publication or
distribution to another person with intent to disclose.
    (5) "Harm" means physical harm, economic harm, or
emotional distress whether or not accompanied by physical or
economic harm.
    (6) "Identifiable" means recognizable by a person other
than the depicted individual:
        (A) from a private sexual image itself; or
        (B) from a private sexual image and identifying
    characteristic displayed in connection with the image.
    (7) "Identifying characteristic" means information that
may be used to identify a depicted individual.
    (8) "Individual" means a human being.
    (9) "Parent" means an individual recognized as a parent
under laws of this State.
    (10) "Private" means:
        (A) created or obtained under circumstances in which a
    depicted individual had a reasonable expectation of
    privacy; or
        (B) made accessible through theft, bribery, extortion,
    fraud, voyeurism, or exceeding authorized access to an
    account, message, file, device, resource, or property.
    (11) "Person" means an individual, business or nonprofit
entity, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or other legal entity.
    (12) "Sexual conduct" includes:
        (A) masturbation;
        (B) genital sex, anal sex, oral sex, or sexual
    activity; or
        (C) sexual penetration of or with an object.
    (13) "Sexual activity" means any:
        (A) knowing touching or fondling by the depicted
    individual or another person, either directly or through
    clothing, of the sex organs, anus, or breast of the
    depicted individual or another person for the purpose of
    sexual gratification or arousal;
        (B) transfer or transmission of semen upon any part of
    the clothed or unclothed body of the depicted individual,
    for the purpose of sexual gratification or arousal of the
    depicted individual or another person;
        (C) act of urination within a sexual context;
        (D) bondage, fetish, sadism, or masochism;
        (E) sadomasochistic abuse in any sexual context; or
        (F) animal-related sexual activity.
    (14) "Sexual image" means a photograph, film, videotape,
digital recording, or other similar medium that shows or
falsely appears to show:
        (A) the fully unclothed, partially unclothed, or
    transparently clothed genitals, pubic area, anus, or
    female post-pubescent nipple, partially or fully exposed,
    of a depicted individual; or
        (B) a depicted individual engaging in or being
    subjected to sexual conduct or activity.
(Source: P.A. 101-556, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
    (740 ILCS 190/10)
    Sec. 10. Civil action.
    (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 15, if a
depicted individual is identifiable to a reasonable person and
suffers harm from the intentional dissemination or threatened
dissemination by a person over the age of 18 of a private or
intentionally digitally altered sexual image without the
depicted individual's consent, the depicted individual has a
cause of action against the person if the person knew or
recklessly disregarded the possibility that:
        (1) the depicted individual did not consent to the
    dissemination;
        (2) the image was a private or intentionally digitally
    altered sexual image; and
        (3) the depicted individual was identifiable.
    (b) The following conduct by a depicted individual does
not establish by itself that the individual consented to the
nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image that is
the subject of an action under this Act or that the individual
lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy:
        (1) consent to creation of the image; or
        (2) previous consensual disclosure of the image.
    (c) In the case of digitally altered sexual images,
disclosing that the images were digitally altered shall not be
a defense to liability. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to impose liability on an interactive computer service, as
defined in 47 U.S.C. 230(f)(2), for content provided by
another person.
(Source: P.A. 101-556, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
    (740 ILCS 190/15)
    Sec. 15. Exceptions to liability.
    (a) A person is not liable under this Act if the person
proves that the dissemination of or a threat to disseminate a
private sexual image was:
        (1) made in good faith:
            (A) by law enforcement;
            (B) in a legal proceeding; or
            (C) for medical education or treatment;
        (2) made in good faith in the reporting or
    investigation of:
            (A) unlawful conduct; or
            (B) unsolicited and unwelcome conduct; or
        (3) related to a matter of public concern.
    (b) Subject to subsection (c), a defendant who is a
parent, legal guardian, or individual with legal custody of a
child is not liable under this Act for a dissemination or
threatened dissemination of an intimate private sexual image
of the child.
    (c) If a defendant asserts an exception to liability under
subsection (b), the exception does not apply if the plaintiff
proves the disclosure was:
        (1) prohibited by a law other than this Act; or
        (2) made for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual
    gratification, humiliation, degradation, or monetary or
    commercial gain.
    (d) The dissemination of or a threat to disseminate a
private sexual image is not a matter of public concern solely
because the depicted individual is a public figure or the
image is accompanied by a political message.
(Source: P.A. 101-556, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
    (740 ILCS 190/25)
    Sec. 25. Remedies.
    (a) In an action under this Act, a prevailing plaintiff
may recover:
        (1) the greater of:
            (A) economic and noneconomic damages proximately
        caused by the defendant's dissemination or threatened
        dissemination, including damages for emotional
        distress whether or not accompanied by other damages;
        or
            (B) statutory damages, not to exceed $10,000,
        against each defendant found liable under this Act for
        all disseminations and threatened disseminations by
        the defendant of which the plaintiff knew or
        reasonably should have known when filing the action or
        that became known during the pendency of the action.
        In determining the amount of statutory damages under
        this subsection, consideration shall be given to the
        age of the parties at the time of the disseminations or
        threatened disseminations, the number of
        disseminations or threatened disseminations made by
        the defendant, the breadth of distribution of the
        image by the defendant, and other exacerbating or
        mitigating factors;
        (2) an amount equal to any monetary gain made by the
    defendant from dissemination of the private sexual image;
    and
        (3) punitive damages.
    (b) In an action under this Act, the court may award a
prevailing plaintiff:
        (1) reasonable attorney's fees and costs; and
        (2) additional relief, including equitable injunctive
    relief such as a temporary restraining order, preliminary
    injunction, or permanent injunction ordering the defendant
    to cease the display or disclosure of the image.
    (c) This Act does not affect a right or remedy available
under any other law of this State.
(Source: P.A. 101-556, eff. 1-1-20.)