The ELVIS Act: Tennessee’s Stand on AI and Artist Rights
On Thursday afternoon, Tennessee distinguished itself as the inaugural state to implement the ELVIS Act, safeguarding its citizens' voice, image, and likeness rights from artificial intelligence abuses.
Gov. Bill Lee ratified the bill into law at Robert's Western World, a Lower Broadway honky-tonk, flanked by musicians and state officials. "This bill is so much bigger than just the music community," he declared. "This bill protects all Tennesseans."
Before the bill's enactment, Gov. Lee remarked, "There are certainly many things that are positive about what AI does. It also, when fallen into the hands of bad actors, it can destroy this industry."
He elaborated, "It can rob an individual, these individual artists to whose unique God-given gifts transform people's lives. It can steal those gifts, it can impersonate those gifts, it can subsequently create fake works that rob those artists of their intellectual property...
The ELVIS Act incorporates artists' voices into Tennessee's existing Protection of Personal Rights statute, enforceable as a Class A misdemeanor by district attorneys. Artists and entities with exclusive licenses, such as labels and distribution groups, have the right to pursue civil litigation for reparations.
Personal accounts were shared by Natalie Grant and Matt Maher, contemporary Christian musicians, and David Hodges, a songwriter and co-founder of the rock band Evanescence.
The bill's advocates include Luke Bryan, Chris Janson, CMA Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson, songwriter Jamie Moore, Maggie Rose, Matthew West, and Tom Douglas, along with Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason, Jr. and Lindsay Ell. Lainey Wilson also presented her experiences to Congress, describing “a gut punch it is to have your name, your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow.” Gov. Lee mentioned that the proposed legislation was crafted with substantial contributions from music industry figures. The governor's office lists the following supporters of the governor's legislation: The Academy of Country Music, American Association of Independent Music, The Americana Music Association, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA), Christian Music Trade Association, Folk Alliance International, Global Music Rights, Gospel Music Association.
Additional backers are: The Living Legends Foundation, Music Artists Coalition, Nashville Musicians Association, National Music Publishers’ Association, Rhythm & Blues Foundation, Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC), Songwriters of North America (SONA), and the Tennessee Entertainment Commission. Critics like Hannah Cox argue that the ELVIS Act violates the First Amendment.
She stated, "I understand the concerns proponents of this bill have with the potential for AI to undercut their incomes. But those concerns must be balanced with ones of equal importance: free speech and the free market. This bill fails on both of those counts." At the signing ceremony, Mitch Glazier, CEO of RIAA, addressed The Tennessean, saying, "There is no bill in the entire world that can ever prevent the First Amendment from protecting people.
"I thought that this bill did a great job of giving guidance about what those First Amendment protections are, but very importantly, it said if it's protected by the First Amendment, that's fine. But if it's not protected by the First Amendment, Tennessee is going to act to protect artists. I thought that was a great line to draw."