ELVISACT

Tennessee · signed March 21, 2024 · effective July 1, 2024

What the E.L.V.I.S. Act means

Tennessee’s 2024 law on consent to use a person’s likeness, image, and voice — including AI simulations a listener can still place.

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Signed TN law Federal NO FAKES: proposed
  • Governor Lee signed it on March 21, 2024. It took effect July 1, 2024.
  • It amends Tennessee’s 1984 publicity statute — name, photograph, likeness, and now voice.
  • Voice covers a simulation if a listener can still tell whose it is.
  • The federal NO FAKES bills are proposed. They are not Tennessee law and are not enacted.
Split portrait of Elvis Presley: warm 1958 photograph on the left, dark circuit-board silhouette on the right, labeled Human and AI.

Key dates

Timeline

  1. Signed Governor Lee signs the ELVIS Act.
  2. Coverage Wire and firm explainers land after signature.
  3. Effective The amendment is in force in Tennessee.
  4. NO FAKES Senate Judiciary hearing; the bill is still pending.

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Briefing strip

Provisions

What the law does

Authorization, digital replicas, and civil enforcement — without using the Elvis portrait as a stand-in for the statute.

Debate

What supporters and critics say

Labor, estates, platforms, and researchers argue over authorization, enforcement, and speech.

Artists

Who is speaking, and how

Cited public statements for and against generative voice tools — not a poll of the industry.

Practice

How it lands in a studio

Consent, voice models, session work, and what the statute does not decide.

Context

Tennessee moved first

A state amendment to a 1984 publicity statute — not a federal replica law.

Voice

Voice as a property right

Identifiable actual or simulated voice is written into the same chapter as name and likeness.

Federal

NO FAKES, still proposed

S.4591 and H.R.8915 are pending. They are not Tennessee law and are not enacted.

The record

Mentions

Deeper

Field guides

01 Provisions Authorization, digital replicas, and civil claims. 02 Debate Arguments from labor, estates, platforms, and researchers. 03 Artists Cited statements for and against generative voice tools. 04 Practice Studios, consent, and session work. 05 Voice Actual and simulated voice as a publicity right. 06 Context How Tennessee’s statute sits next to federal bills. 07 NO FAKES Proposed federal digital-replica legislation.