Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law Thursday a first-of-its-kind legislation intended to tackle misuse of artificial intelligence by modifying a state law banning unauthorized copies of artists’ works to cover musicians, their voices and their songs.
Introduced in January, the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, or the ELVIS Act, builds upon Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law but adds another layer “by adding ‘voice’ to the realm it protects,” according to an announcement. The bill took effect July 1, 2024.
“While Tennessee’s preexisting law protected name, image, and likeness, it did not specifically address new, personalized generative AI cloning models and services that enable human impersonation and allow users to make unauthorized fake works in the image and voice of others,” the announcement said.
The governor’s office noted that Tennessee’s music industry supports more than 61,000 jobs across the state and brings in billions of dollars in revenue.
“From Beale Street to Broadway, to Bristol and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state,” Lee said in the statement. “As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, I thank the General Assembly for its partnership in creating legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters.”
The bill comes as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued guidance in February about how it will determine whether inventions developed with the assistance of AI can be patented. The guidance is part of the White House’s wide-ranging executive order on AI from late October.
The Federal Circuit held in August 2022 that AI cannot be named as an inventor on patents, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reconsider.
Meanwhile, the Copyright Office has received more than 10,000 comments from individuals, companies and organizations about how to address issues raised by the proliferation of AI technologies. President Joe Biden’s executive order in October included a directive for it to recommend actions he could take after the release of the agency’s study.
Several industry groups supported the ELVIS Act, including Broadcast Music Inc. and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, according to Thursday’s announcement.
“This incredible result once again shows that when the music community stands together, there’s nothing we can’t do,” Recording Industry of America CEO Mitch Glazier said in a statement. “We applaud Tennessee’s swift and thoughtful bipartisan leadership against unconsented AI deepfakes and voice clones and look forward to additional states and the U.S. Congress moving quickly to protect the unique humanity and individuality of all Americans.
This article was originally published on Law360
