Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act is the first law in the United States to protect musicians and other artists from the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).
According to the Associated Press, the state's governor, Bill Lee, signed the law on Thursday (Mar. 21) to protect songwriters, performers, and other music industry professionals from bad actors that could use AI to mimic their voices and likenesses.
Supporters said that the goal was to ensure that AI tools could not replace an artist's voice without their consent.
The bill would go into effect on July 1.
"We employ more people in Tennessee in the music industry than any other state," Lee told reporters shortly after signing the bill into law. "Artists have intellectual property. They have gifts. They have a uniqueness that is theirs and theirs alone, certainly not artificial intelligence."
Tennessee is one of three states where name, photographs, and likeness were considered a property right rather than a right of publicity, and with the newly-signed ELVIS Act - a nod to legendary singer and Tennessee resident Elvis Presley - vocal likeness would now be added to that list.
The new law also stipulated the creation of a new civil action in which people could be held liable if they publish or perform an individual's voice without permission or use technology to produce an artist's name, photographs, voice, or likeness without the proper authorization.
However, it remains to be seen how effective the legislation would be for artists looking to shield their art from being scraped and replicated by AI without their permission. Many Tennessee musicians say that they do not have the luxury of time to wait for a perfect solution.
"Stuff comes in on my phone and I can't tell it's not me," country star Luke Bryan said. "It's a real deal now and hopefully this will curb it and slow it down."
Supporters like Lee acknowledged that the legislation is untested despite the sweeping support from those inside the music industry and unanimous approval from the Tennessee Statehouse. And yet, the bill was supported and passed by a Republican supermajority and a handful of Democrats in the state legislature in a bipartisan agreement.
The law was also partially promulgated due to the long legal battle Presley's estate had to go through over the unauthorized use of his name and likeness since he died in 1977.
However, by 1984, the Tennessee Legislature passed the Personal Rights Protection Act, which ensured that personality rights do not stop at death and can be passed down to others. It stated that "the individual rights ... constitute property rights and are freely assignable and licensable, and do not expire upon the death of the individual so protected."
The ELVIS Act would add vocal likeness to such protections.
