The ELVIS Act was signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday in an attempt to shield musicians against voice clones and deep fakes created without authorization using artificial intelligence.
The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, as the bill is short named, amends the state's Protection of Personal Rights law, which secures a person's "name, photograph, or likeness" to include safeguards against misuse of artificial intelligence for the voices of artists.
As he signed the law, which is being referred to as "first-of-its-kind legislation," Lee was flanked by members of the legislative branch as well as country music artists Luke Bryan and Chris Janson at the dive bar Robert's Western World in Nashville.
"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," said Lee, per a press release. "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."
Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, More Victims of AI Deepfakes
So far, many musicians are already victimized by deepfakes.
Taylor Swift made news in late January when she became a target of deepfake photos created with artificial intelligence that contained graphic, nonconsensual sexual content.
Swift's supporters promptly reported the offensive material that was making the rounds on social media, with X blocking Swift's name searches for a while.
It wasn't the first instance of this kind of assault; women and girls have previously experienced it all across the world. However, Swift's celebrity status helped bring the matter to the public's attention, and the incident increased calls for government intervention.
Earlier, after witnessing a deepfake video of herself with Tom Holland, Nicki Minaj declared that she wanted to erase the "whole internet."
It can be remembered that fictitious video made the rounds, in which Minaj, 40, appears to be sleeping with Holland, even though she's actually married to Kenny Petty.
This act can also prevent AI-powered music.
In the past, Ghostwriter, an anonymous music creator, has released another AI-powered song, "Whiplash," which mimics rappers Travis Scott and 21 Savage.
Before the videos were removed from TikTok, Ghostwriter's AI Drake and The Weeknd song "Heart on My Sleeve" and AI Rihanna and Bad Bunny song "Por Qué" received millions of views. Millions more views are probably due to reposts of these videos elsewhere.
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The ghostwriter even entered "Heart on My Sleeve" for consideration for a Grammy in 2023.
The Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. stated that the song is qualified because to human authorship credits, and it is aimed towards the Best Rap Song and Song of the Year categories.
However, AI voices probably don't follow distribution guidelines.
