Source: Tennessee Office of the Attorney General & Reporter

The Tennessee Office of the Attorney General & Reporter has issued a press release celebrating the enactment of the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti highlighted the law as a critical measure to protect the state's vibrant music and creative communities from the misuse of artificial intelligence. The legislation, which received strong bipartisan support, updates Tennessee's existing right of publicity law to explicitly include protections for a person's voice against unauthorized AI cloning and digital replication. This move is a direct response to the growing concerns among artists, particularly in the music industry, about the potential for their voices to be used without consent to create deepfake songs or other fraudulent content, thereby threatening their livelihoods and personal brands.

The press release emphasizes that the ELVIS Act is the first of its kind in the nation to specifically address AI-driven voice cloning with such comprehensive protections. It establishes a new civil cause of action against anyone who uses AI to create or publish an individual's voice in a way that the public would recognize, without obtaining proper authorization. The law aims to provide artists and other individuals with the legal tools necessary to combat this new form of digital impersonation. Attorney General Skrmetti stated that this legislation ensures that Tennessee remains a premier location for artists and creatives by safeguarding their most personal and unique attributes—their voice and likeness—in the age of artificial intelligence, setting a new standard for intellectual property and personal rights protection nationwide.