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Tennessee’s current legislative transfer, the ELVIS Act (Making certain Likeness, Voice, and the Picture Safety Act of 2024), has garnered consideration for its efforts to deal with the challenges posed by synthetic intelligence within the music business. Signed into legislation on March 21, 2024, the ELVIS Act represents an enormous step by a state with an enormous music business presence to stop the unauthorized use of synthetic intelligence (AI)-generated musician soundalike content material. However is it enforceable?
The ELVIS Act builds upon Tennessee’s present proper of publicity statutes, which historically safeguarded a person’s (or a deceased particular person’s) title, {photograph}, or likeness in any medium in any method. One may argue that likeness included voice, however the ELVIS Act clarifies that an individual’s voice is among the many private property rights this statute now protects.
Beneath the ELVIS Act, an individual’s voice is broadly outlined as any sound in a medium readily identifiable and attributable to a specific particular person, no matter whether or not it’s the precise voice or a simulated model. This definition encompasses AI-generated imitations that replicate a person’s voice with exceptional accuracy. It additionally contains soundalikes, together with Elvis impersonators and tribute bands.
The first goal of the ELVIS Act is to stop the unauthorized use of an individual’s title, {photograph}, voice, or likeness for industrial functions, together with promoting, merchandise, and fundraising actions. Furthermore, the invoice imposes civil legal responsibility on people or entities knowingly distributing or transmitting a person’s voice or likeness with out correct authorization.
A notable facet of the ELVIS Act is its potential affect on AI know-how suppliers and corporations specializing in voice replication. The laws holds liable any entity that develops or distributes know-how primarily meant for producing a person’s voice or likeness with out authorization. This provision is a deterrent towards the proliferation of AI-generated content material infringing on musicians’ rights.
Moreover, the ELVIS Act expands the scope of potential plaintiffs in authorized actions associated to voice infringement. Along with particular person performers, the invoice grants recording labels the correct to pursue authorized treatments for violations.
Earlier federal courtroom selections have restricted the scope of Tennessee’s proper of publicity statute to the promoting or promotional context and excluded performances, sports activities broadcasts, web sites, and inventive works from its attain. The ELVIS Act seems to deliberately goal inventive works, such because the quite a few A.I. soundalike sound recordings presently proliferating the Web.
Nonetheless, the broad language of the ELVIS Act raises questions concerning its compatibility with present copyright legislation, notably that portion of the Copyright Act that addresses soundalike recordings. Whereas the statute goals to deal with inventive works that includes AI-generated soundalikes, it might encounter challenges below Part 114(b) of the Copyright Act, which allows soundalike recordings. A publication by the U.S. Copyright Workplace particularly says that “below U.S. copyright legislation, the unique rights in sound recordings don’t prolong to creating independently recorded ‘sound alike’ recordings.” And if this isn’t clear sufficient, the notes to Part 114 by the Home Judiciary Committee present as follows:
“Subsection (b) of part 114 clarifies that statutory safety for sound recordings extends solely to the actual sounds of which the recording consists and wouldn’t stop a separate recording of one other efficiency through which these sounds are imitated….Mere imitation of a recorded efficiency wouldn’t represent a copyright infringement, even the place one performer intentionally units out to simulate one other’s efficiency as exactly as doable.”
It appears sure that quite a few lawsuits will come up from the ELVIS Act, notably concerning its interplay with federal copyright legislation. Defendants in such circumstances assert preemption, citing federal legislation’s authority in regulating copyright issues.
Be taught extra within the newest episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog.
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