Tennessee First State to Protect Artists from AI with ELVIS Act Updates
Source: © 1957 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.; photograph, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The updated ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act) will go into effect on July 1, 2024, in Tennessee and will prohibit the use of AI (artificial intelligence) to mimic an artist’s voice. The law passed unanimously through an often politically split legislature.
The protections against AI impersonation are an update to the existing 1984 law, which was signed to protect the Elvis Presley estate after his death in 1977.
Tennessee is home to the Nashville country music and the Memphis blues and soul music scenes. The state’s music industry supports over 61,000 jobs and more than 4,500 music venues.
Governor Bill Lee signed the law on Mar. 21, 2024, at an event at Robert’s Music World, a honky-tonk in Nashville, with country singers Chris Janson and Luke Bryan in attendance. Lee said, “There are certainly many things that are positive about what AI does, [but] when fallen into the hands of bad actors, it can destroy this industry.”
Discussion Questions
1. Is AI good for society? Why or why not?
2. Should local or state governments protect artists from AI? How? What protections would you put into place?
3. Should the federal government regulate AI? How? Explain your answer.
Sources
Emily Cochrane, “Tennessee Makes A.I. an Outlaw to Protect Its Country Music and More,” nytimes.com, Mar. 21, 2024
Rebecca Rosman, “Tennessee Becomes the First State to Protect Musicians and Other Artists against AI,” npr.org, Mar. 22, 2024
