Country singer Luke Bryan praised Tennessee for leading the way in protecting artist’s voices from AI at an event celebrating the state’s new legislation last night.
Tennessee passed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act, known as the ELVIS Act, in Nashville on Thursday.
After signing off on the legislation Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rubbed shoulders with country stars including Bryan at the classic Broadway honky-tonk Robert’s Western World.
‘What an amazing precedent to set for the state of Tennessee,’ Bryan told the crowd.
‘The leaders of this are showing artists who are moving here following their dreams that our state protects what we work so hard for, and I personally want to thank all of our legislators and people who made this bill happen’ he said.
Country singer Luke Bryan praised Tennessee for leading the way in protecting artist’s voices from AI at a Nashville event celebrating the state’s new legislation
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee rubbed shoulders with country stars including Bryan at the classic Broadway honky-tonk Robert’s Western World on Thursday
Adding: ‘It’s hard to wrap your head around what is going on with AI, but I know the ELVIS Act will help protect our voices.’
Tennessee’s move to impose legislative guardrails against AI has been driven largely out of concern for its world-famous music industry.
‘From Beale Street to Broadway, to Bristol and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state’ Governor Lee said at Thursday’s event.
‘As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, I thank the General Assembly for its partnership in creating legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters,’ Governor Bill Lee said at the signing.
The ELVIS Act, passed unanimously in the state’s General Assembly, aims to prevent artists voices being used without their permission in a song they didn’t create, for example.
Other states already have legislation that prevent moves such as cloning a celebrities voice and manipulating it to advertise products without their permission.
However, the ELVIS Act aims to specifically cover artists if their voice or likeness is used to sell fake musical output.
‘If I’m using a fake version of Drake’s voice or if Taylor Swift’s voice or of anybody else’s voice, not to sell a product, but as a fake song this bill would target that in a way that other states don’t already’ professor Joseph Fishman, a copyright and entertainment law professor at Vanderbilt University told WATE news.
There are currently 407 AI related bills being considered across 40 states, nearly half of which address the issues surrounding deepfakes
Taylor Swift was targeted by sexually explicit deepfake images that went viral on X last month
Celebrities including Taylor Swift have been the victim of deepfake videos, an issue that has highlighted the need to legislate.
Last year a Delaware-based AI company made a ‘digital twin’ of Bruce Willis by using 34,000 images of the actor to create a digital version of the actor to be used on screen.
Despite viral reports Willis did not sell the rights to this creation but its existence concerned many other actors and artists looking to protect their work.
Alongside Tennessee states across the country are also rushing to pass legislation to guard against the rise of AI.
There are currently 407 AI related bills being considered across 40 states, nearly half of which address deepfakes, according to software industry group BSA.
New York is leading the way, with 65 bills currently under consideration. It is followed closely by California with 29 being debated. But others such as Alabama and Wyoming are yet to consider any new AI legislation.
Craig Albright, BSA vice president for government relations, told DailyMail.com last month: ‘The explosion of generative AI tools that consumers can play with themselves has placed the issues around AI front and center for millions of people, and government at all levels is trying to get ahead of the issues as best they can.
‘States are attempting to increase penalties for misuse of AI such as generating and distributing deepfake porn, or fake political videos.’.