Unauthorized artificial intelligence (AI) imitations are now officially illegal as per Tennessee's newest law, the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act (ELVIS Act). Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee signed legislation on Thursday that is intended to shield musicians, composers, and other professionals in the music business from the possible risks posed by AI.
Advocates reportedly claim the objective is to guarantee that AI systems cannot imitate an artist's voice without the artist's permission. The law will be enacted on July 1.
The bill, which is being called first-of-its-kind legislation, was reportedly signed by Lee in the company of legislative leadership and country music artists Luke Bryan and Chris Janson at honky-tonk Robert's Western World in Nashville. Only three states recognize names, likenesses, and photos as property rights as opposed to rights of publicity, including the State.
(Photo: JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images) A recent study has revealed the growing concerns about the impact of AI on the music industry that could affect musicians' livelihoods.
The law establishes a new civil action in which one can be held accountable for publishing or performing someone else's voice without their consent or for using technology to generate an artist's name, image, voice, or likeness without the required authority.
However, it is unclear how successful the law will be in protecting artists' works from being copied and scraped by AI without their consent.
Legislation remains unproven, even with broad backing from the music industry and overwhelming approval from the Tennessee Statehouse, according to supporters like Lee. This degree of bipartisan consensus is a startling outlier during conflicts between the GOP supermajority and a few Democrats.
As policymakers and artists have lobbied for stricter protections over musicians' copyrights and intellectual property, the rise of AI has become a significant source of concern for both groups.
AI voice cloning tools have helped songwriters create viral (and controversial) songs that mimic superstar artists. Last year, voice-cloning tech caused a stir in the industry after an anonymous TikTok user made a popular song using the cloned vocals of Drake and the Weeknd. Companies like Splice and Soundful have made it easy for songwriters to create beats and songs using AI.
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AI Deepfakes of Musicians
The controversial song "Heart on My Sleeve," which included Drake and The Weeknd's AI-generated voices, stirred up controversy and raised ethical, legal, and copyright questions last year.
After an anonymous producer going by the handle Ghostwriter977 uploaded a phony video of Drake and The Weeknd performing together on a song, the music went viral on TikTok. The song reached up to 10 million views in just one weekend and became a global sensation.
Furthermore, Ghostwriter posted the song to Spotify as well, where it received up to 250,000 streams. The song had a huge following and was considered one of the hottest songs released at the time by users of Spotify and TikTok.
Musicians over AI
Co-founder of Made Music Studio and award-winning television and film composer Joel Beckerman disputes the idea that AI would eventually replace composers in their entirety. He claims that storytelling and human connection are fundamental components of music appreciation and provides arguments supporting this claim.
Beckerman emphasizes how deeply fans relate with musicians such as Taylor Swift, whose music embodies universal themes of love, heartbreak, and personal development.
He reiterates that although AI programs may imitate Swift's speech patterns and even produce lyrics that sound like hers, they are not able to access the deep reservoir of life experiences that human musicians do.
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(Photo : Tech Times)
