Tennessee signs ELVIS Act to protect artists' voices from AI cloning

In March 2024, Tennessee enacted the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, known as the ELVIS Act. Governor Bill Lee signed it in Nashville, the centre of the US country music industry, after it passed the state legislature with broad support.

The law updated Tennessee's existing right-of-publicity rules, which govern commercial use of a person's name and likeness. It added a person's voice to those protections, including simulations of it, so that cloning a singer's voice with artificial intelligence without permission could lead to civil liability. It also targeted companies that distribute tools whose main purpose is to produce such unauthorized copies.

The act was widely described as the first US state law aimed specifically at AI voice imitation in music. Musicians, record labels and industry groups backed it, arguing that generative AI could flood the market with fake performances and undermine artists' livelihoods. Its name nods to Elvis Presley, whose Memphis roots and legacy made him a fitting symbol. The law became an early reference point in later disputes over AI music tools and the use of artists' voices.