ELVIS Act Tennessee

Photo Credit: Human Artistry Campaign

The landmark ELVIS Act builds momentum in the Tennessee House to protect voice, image, and likeness against ‘irresponsible and unethical’ AI.

Filled with advocates for music creators, Tennessee continues to advance protections for the music industry with legislation to safeguard individual voice, image, and likeness against irresponsible and unethical artificial intelligence. The state’s House Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee has unanimously passed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act on Tuesday, February 13.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee introduced the legislation last month alongside State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-27) and House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-44). On Tuesday, the Subcommittee heard testimony from singer-actor-author Chrissy Metz, songwriter and NSAI board member Jamie Moore, and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) SVP of Public Policy Jessie Richard, explaining the importance of protecting fundamental rights all people should possess to their image, likeness, and voice — especially in the era of generative AI and audio cloning.

“I can attest to the pain and fear coursing through the creative community, knowing that years of committed hard work, countless heartbreaks, sacrifice, unwavering resilience […] not to mention our very own character and reputations all can be torn down in a moment by an unaccountable deepfake,” said Metz (pictured right). “I fully support free speech, and it’s appropriate that this bill preserves all First Amendment rights. However, using someone’s voice not protected by the First Amendment should not be allowed.”

“Music is an important part of the fabric of Tennessee; it’s a part of our culture, economy — music is our lifeblood. Tennessee has always held its creators in high esteem and sought to protect their work and their livelihoods. We are at a critical part in American history and human innovation,” said Moore (pictured center). “As songwriters and artists, we spend hours scrutinizing over our human art. When a machine can take my lived experience in seconds, that is wrong. That is theft. And we need to protect against it.”

“Unscrupulous parties are abusing AI technologies, hijacking artists’ actual voices and likenesses to generate digital clones, undermining their bodies of work, and alienating their fans,” said Richard (pictured left). “The bill’s opponents that seek categorical exemptions want to allow non-consensual uses of another person’s voice and likeness in ways that are not protected by the First Amendment. Their economic interests in non-protected speech should not prevail over a person’s basic rights.”

This recent push from Tennessee lawmakers follows congressional testimony from country star Lainey Wilson and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., as well as nearly 300 actors, artists, musicians, and songwriters co-signing their support for similar federal protections via the bipartisan “No AI FRAUD Act.”