Context
Tennessee first, federal bills later
The ELVIS Act is state law already in effect. The NO FAKES Act of 2026 is a related federal proposal. It is not enacted as of September 2026.
Why Tennessee moved
Tennessee’s 1984 personal-rights statute is often discussed in the same breath as publicity rights around performers — including the estate of Elvis Presley, whose name is an accidental echo of this 2024 title, not the subject of the new act.
By 2024, widely available models could imitate a singer from a short clip. Nashville-area artists, songwriters, and trade groups treated that as a gap in the older name-and-likeness frame. The legislature passed a voice-inclusive update. Reporting at the time described unanimous House and Senate votes and a March 21 signing by Governor Bill Lee. The law took effect July 1, 2024.
Being first does not make the statute a national rule. It does make Tennessee a reference point for later state bills and for federal drafts that talk about “digital replicas.”
The proposed NO FAKES Act
In the 119th Congress, companion bills titled the NO FAKES Act of 2026 were introduced as S.4591 and H.R.8915. The long title on Congress.gov is the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026.
As summarized on Congress.gov, the proposal would create a federal intellectual-property-style right over unauthorized digital replicas of a person’s voice and visual likeness. Draft mechanics discussed in that summary include licensing rules, a notice-and-takedown process, counter-notice, and speech-oriented exemptions (for example news, documentary, and satire).
Senate Judiciary ordered S.4591 reported favorably, with a substitute amendment, around June 18, 2026. The Senate calendar entry followed later that month. The House companion had been referred to House Judiciary. None of that is enactment. As of September 2026 research for this site, NO FAKES remained proposed / pending legislation.
How the two layers differ
The ELVIS Act is an amendment to Tennessee’s existing right-of-publicity statute. It is in force for conduct the state can reach.
NO FAKES, if Congress passed a version and the President signed it, would be a federal replica right with its own procedures. Bill text on preemption and grandfathering of older state claims has been part of the public summaries; those details can change in amendment and are not described as final here.
People who want one national rule often point at bills like NO FAKES. People who want a rule on the books now point at Tennessee (and other state replica or deepfake statutes). A working federal law would not automatically erase every state question, and a state law does not settle interstate AI products.
How to read dates on this site
ELVIS Act dates (signed March 21, 2024; effective July 1, 2024) are historical. NO FAKES status is a snapshot as of September 2026. Check Congress.gov before treating the federal bills as passed, failed, or rewritten.