Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed a bill Thursday aimed at protecting songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals from the potential dangers of artificial intelligence.
The move makes Tennessee, the birthplace of country music and long known as the launching pad for musical legends, the first state in the United States to enact such a measure. The goal, supporters say, is to prevent AI tools from replicating an artist's voice without the artist's consent. The bill will go into effect on July 1st.
“Tennessee employs more people in the music industry than any other state,” Lee told reporters shortly after signing the bill. “Artists have intellectual property. They have talent. They have their own uniqueness, not artificial intelligence.”
From left: Congressman William Lamberth, country star Luke Bryan, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, songwriter Chris Janson, and music at the Signing of the Portrait, Voice, and Image Protection Act in Nashville. industry executive Mitch Glazier and Senator Jack Johnson. “The Elvis Method.”Jason Kempin/Getty Images
The Volunteer State is just one of three states where name, photograph and likeness are considered property rights rather than publicity rights. Voice likenesses will be added to that list, according to a newly signed law called the Portrait, Sound, and Image Security Act, or ELVIS Act.
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The law also creates new civil lawsuits for those who publish or perform an individual's voice without permission or use technology to create an artist's name, photograph, voice, or likeness without proper authorization. .
But it remains to be seen how effective this law will be for artists who want to prevent their art from being scraped and copied by AI without their permission. Advocates like Lee acknowledged that despite full support from music industry officials and unanimous approval from the Tennessee General Assembly, the bill is untested. This level of bipartisan agreement is a shocking anomaly as the Republican supermajority and minority Democrats continue to clash.
Many Tennessee musicians say they can't afford to wait for the perfect solution, pointing out that AI threats are already starting to appear on cell phones and recording studios.
Country star Luke Bryan said, “Something comes into your phone and you don't know it's not you.” “It's a really serious situation right now, and we hope this will contain it and slow it down.”
The Republican governor held a bill-signing event to a packed house inside Robert's Western World in the heart of Lower Broadway in Nashville. Popular honky-tonks are filled with tourists listening to traditional country music and eating fried bologna sandwiches.
Naming the new ordinance after Elvis Presley wasn't just a nod to one of the state's most iconic residents.
Presley's death in 1977 sparked a long and controversial legal battle over the unauthorized use of his name and likeness, as many argued that when a celebrity dies, their name and image become public domain.
However, by 1984, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Personal Rights Protection Act, ensuring that personality rights do not end at death and can be inherited by others. The law states that “personal rights… constitute property rights, may be freely transferred and licensed, and do not expire upon the death of the protected individual.”
The move was primarily seen as important for protecting Presley's estate, but in the decades since, it has also been praised as protecting the names, photographs, and likenesses of all public figures in Tennessee. has been done.
Now, Tennessee adds voice similarity to these protections.