NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee lawmakers want to further strengthen guardrails for artificial intelligence to prevent singers’ voices from being used without their permission in a first-of-its-kind bill.
But some people testified that the bill’s language is too broad and could have unintended consequences.
The ELVIS Act added the word “voice” to Tennessee’s list of protected individual rights. Currently, state law protects the use of a person’s name, photo, and likeness.
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The bill’s name is an acronym for “ensure, likeness, voice and image security,” and its authors aim to prevent someone from using a musician’s voice to create songs or content they did not create. Are expected.
“You can’t use a celebrity’s famous voice to sell potato chips, which some other states have already taken up,” said Joseph Fishman, a professor of copyright and entertainment law at Vanderbilt University. explained.
“If I’m using a fake version of Drake’s voice or Taylor Swift’s voice or someone else’s voice, I’m not using it to sell a product, I’m using it as a fake song. It will target it in a way that no other state has yet done.”
In testimony to lawmakers supporting the bill, songwriters and musicians said the bill would prevent theft.
“When a machine took a song born from my life’s experiences and created a record that the artist had never authorized or sung on, resulting in a fake version being released without permission or payment. That’s wrong,” said Grammy-nominated songwriter Jamie Moore.
Representatives from the Motion Picture Association told lawmakers that they support protections for artists, but that the bill, as written, would restrict free speech rights for television and film studios.
“This would be a complete chilling of the First Amendment’s right to exercise protected speech in making movies and television shows based on real people and events,” said Ben Sheffner, an attorney for the Motion Picture Association. Stated.
Actress and singer Chrissy Metz anticipated this argument and countered it in her testimony.
“I think it’s pretty enriching to tell creative artists that they’re threatening their freedom of expression by supporting this bill,” Metz said.
But Fishman argues that the film association has a point, and that the bill’s current language doesn’t just make it harder to make documentaries and biopics in Tennessee.
“It would also threaten the liability of, say, a Johnny Cash tribute band that can be heard everywhere around Nashville. No one is fooled by tribute bands. There needs to be new laws regulating tribute bands. No one is thinking about it. But I think this bill, unconsciously, will do that. So while I think the goals here are great, the actual implementation and bill language still needs work. ” he said.
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This week, lawmakers decided to postpone tweaking the bill’s language to a later date.
The bill passed by unanimous vote in the House Banking and Disruptor Affairs Subcommittee.
