States have long had laws restricting the use of a celebrities’ “name, image and likeness” for commercial purposes such as advertising. The issue is gaining momentum because of AI generated “deep fakes” such as the notorious “Fake Drake” song that dropped on streaming platforms recently. To address this risk, Tennessee has now enacted the Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security Act (ELVIS Act), which bars the use of a person’s identity as a singer “regardless of whether the sound contains the actual voice or a simulation of the voice of the individual.”
The ELVIS Act holds technology providers responsible and liable if their purpose “is the production of a particular, identifiable individual’s photograph, voice, or likeness, with knowledge that distributing, transmitting, or otherwise making available the photograph, voice, or likeness was not authorized by the individual.” The Act went into effect on July 1, 2024.
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