What Intellectual Property Insurance Requirements Apply in New York?

New York Civil Rights Law § 51 requires written consent for covered commercial use of a living person’s name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice. If your products or ads use people’s identities, ask whether publicity-right claims fall within your IP policy.

What Is Intellectual Property Insurance?

Intellectual property insurance comes in two separate parts: defense, when you're accused of infringing a patent, trademark or copyright, and enforcement, when you pursue someone who copied yours. A defense-only quote doesn't pay for your own lawsuit, so ask for each part you need. Read the national Intellectual property guide.

What to Watch for With Intellectual Property in New York

Match the State Rule to Your Coverage
New York Civil Rights Law § 51 requires written consent for covered commercial use of a living person’s name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice. If your products or ads use people’s identities, ask whether publicity-right claims fall within your IP policy. ²
Plan for the State Remedy
New York’s postmortem publicity statute covers qualifying personalities and performers for 40 years after death, subject to statutory definitions and exceptions. Inventory archival, tribute, and AI-generated content and ask how the policy treats postmortem-right allegations. ³
Check the Policy Against the Claim
New York’s statutory publicity protections distinguish living people from qualifying deceased personalities and performers. Build separate release and license records for current campaigns and archival or AI-generated uses, then ask how each category is treated by the policy. ^2,³

Which Intellectual Property Providers Have New York License Records?

No provider in our research has both a state license record and a listing for this coverage line. This does not establish that providers are unlicensed. Check the regulator’s license lookup and confirm availability with a provider when requesting a quote.

Who Regulates Insurance in New York?

New York State Department of Financial Services

New York DFS supervises insurance companies and producers, administers insurance law and accepts consumer complaints about property and casualty policies, including commercial insurance. ^4,^5,^6,⁷

Website: Regulator website
License lookup: Search licensed producers
Complaints: File a complaint
Phone: 800-342-3736

Surplus-Lines Tax and Stamping Office in New York

Reported tax rate. 3.6% of gross premium, less returned premium; ELANY stamping fee is 0.15% through 2026 and 0.17% for policies incepting on/after Jan. 1, 2027 ^8,^9,^10,¹¹

When New York is the insured’s home state, excess-line tax is 3.6% of gross premium less returned premium. ELANY’s September 20, 2026 bulletin sets a 0.15% stamping fee through December 31, 2026 and 0.17% for policies incepting on or after January 1, 2027; statutory search requirements and guaranty-fund protection depend on the applicable New York excess-line rules.

Excess Line Association of New York

Questions to Ask Before You Buy Intellectual Property in New York

Does the policy cover publicity-right claims involving advertising used in New York?
Are synthetic, archival, or postmortem likeness uses addressed by the coverage?
What consent and license records should we give the broker for campaign materials?

Intellectual Property Insurance in New York: FAQ

Does New York law protect commercial use of a person’s identity?

Yes. New York Civil Rights Law § 51 requires written consent for covered advertising or trade uses of a living person’s name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice. Ask whether the policy covers that type of claim. ²

How should I handle a suspected intellectual-property claim in New York?

Notify the insurer promptly and preserve the first demand, access logs, agreements, and discovery date. New York has not enacted the 2025–26 Uniform Trade Secrets Act proposal cited in some materials; the bill remains a proposal. Ask the broker to identify which pleaded claims the policy covers rather than assuming New York has the same statutory trade-secret framework as neighboring states. The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act is a separate claim with its own filing period. ^2,¹

Sources for Intellectual Property Insurance in New York

1
18 U.S.C. § 1836, Civil Proceedings. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives; § 1836(b)(1), (3): federal civil action, injunction, and damages for qualifying trade secret misappropriation. Accessed 2026-09-29.
2
New York Civil Rights Law § 51, Action for Injunction and Damages. New York State Senate; § 51: written consent for covered advertising or trade uses of a person’s name, portrait, picture, likeness, or voice. Accessed 2026-09-29.
3
New York Civil Rights Law § 50-f. New York State Senate; Postmortem right of publicity for defined personalities and performers. Accessed 2026-09-29.
4
New York State Department of Financial Services. New York State Department of Financial Services; Official regulator homepage. Accessed 2026-09-28.
5
Who We Supervise. New York State Department of Financial Services; DFS describes insurance oversight and provides links to company and producer searches. Accessed 2026-09-28.
6
Insurance License Search. New York State Department of Financial Services; DFS portal performs public insurance producer license searches; it displays a CAPTCHA to limit automated access. Accessed 2026-09-28.
7
Consumer Complaints. New York State Department of Financial Services; Official portal files insurance complaints for health, life and property/casualty insurance. Accessed 2026-09-28.
8
New York Insurance Law §2118(d)(1). New York State Senate; Current statutory text: 3.6% of gross premiums less returned premium when New York is the insured’s home state. Accessed 2026-09-28.
9
ELANY Bulletin 2026-20: Notice of Change in Stamping Fee. Excess Line Association of New York; September 20, 2026 bulletin: 0.17% applies to policies incepting from Jan. 1, 2027; endorsements on policies incepting Jan. 1, 2023–Dec. 31, 2026 retain 0.15%; excess-line tax remains 3.6%. Accessed 2026-09-28.
10
New York Insurance Law §2118. New York State Senate; Excess-line broker duties and filing requirements; §2118(a) due care; exceptions should be applied only where statutory conditions are met. Accessed 2026-09-28.
11
New York Insurance Law §2118. New York State Senate; Excess-line statutory duties and policies; source is used for placement context. No state-specific guaranty cap/note included. Accessed 2026-09-28.
12
Licenses. At-Bay; Current producer introduction and state table; At-Bay Insurance Services LLC; P&C and surplus-lines identifiers. Accessed 2026-09-21.
13
Licenses and Carriers. Coalition; Licenses and Carriers, re-read 22 September 2026: Insurance Licenses table for Coalition Insurance Solutions, Inc., national producer number 18419475, with producer and surplus-lines numbers for all 50 states and DC including California 0L76155, Georgia 196479, Texas 2199630 and 2205589, Pennsylvania 815731 and 817452, Colorado 539028 and Wisconsin 3000108852. Insurance Carriers table naming, with NAIC numbers, Allianz Underwriters Insurance Company 36420, Arch Specialty Insurance Company 21199, Ascot Specialty Insurance Company 45055, Ascot Insurance Company 23752, Aspen Specialty Insurance Company 10717, Chaucer Insurance Company DAC, Coalition Insurance Company 29530, Fireman's Fund Indemnity Corporation 11380, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company 16823, Lloyd's of London, MSIG Specialty Insurance USA Inc. 34886, MS Transverse Specialty Insurance Company 41807, Steadfast Insurance Company 26387, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company 16275 and Zurich American Insurance Company 16535. Accessed 2026-09-22.
14
Insurance Producer Licenses. Corgi Insurance; Current complete Insurance Producer Licenses table for Corgi Insurance Services, Inc.; 50 rows covering 49 states and DC (DC 3003091619); no New Mexico row; no NPN or as-of date shown. Accessed 2026-09-28.
15
About Hiscox US Insurance. Hiscox; Hiscox Insurance Company Inc. NAIC 10200 as Chicago, IL domiciled insurer admitted or licensed in all 50 states and D.C.; Hiscox Inc. as general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder for Syndicates 33 and 3624; surplus-lines placements through licensed surplus-lines brokers; A.M. Best rating statement. Accessed 2026-09-16.
16
Insurance Licenses by State. TechInsurance; Current state table; identifies TechInsurance as a division of Specialty Program Group LLC d/b/a SPG Insurance Solutions; lists DC 3000041536 and labels Rhode Island “Individual licenses,” without an agency license number. Accessed 2026-09-28.
17
Licenses. Vouch; Effective 16 January 2025: Vouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLC, NPN 19926463; P&C table (50 states and DC); surplus-lines table includes Idaho 870820; footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses; Idaho retained as producer-only due to conflict. Accessed 2026-09-15.

What Intellectual Property Insurance Requirements Apply in New York?

What Is Intellectual Property Insurance?

What to Watch for With Intellectual Property in New York

Match the State Rule to Your Coverage

Plan for the State Remedy

Check the Policy Against the Claim