Elvis Act
Tennessee enacts law to better protect artists against AI
German politicians are also always tempted to give a law a special name in order to give it significance and gain popularity themselves. With a twinkle in the eye, it has to be said that the "ELVIS Act", which will come into force on July 2, 2024, deserves to be of outstanding importance simply because of its name. However, the content of the Elvis Act is also of great importance. The full name of the law is the 'Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act', or ELVIS Act for short.
Protection of the music industry and artists
Tennessee is the state in the USA where the majority of the music industry and artists are based. This perhaps explains why the state is the first to pass such a law. The initiative "Human Artistry Campaign" would like to see a nationwide regulation. According to reports, a corresponding regulation is being worked on in Washington.
AI applications are already capable of "reproducing" artists, i.e. their voices, but also images or videos. The Beatles did just that last year with the single "Now and Then", "restoring" John Lennon's voice. This is exactly what the law is against. After all, the Elvis act protects the copyright to the uniqueness of his own voice, face and body.
The open letter from the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) is aimed in the same direction. Many well-known artists are calling for a better approach to artificial intelligence. Billie Eilish, Steve Wonder, Pearl Jam, Robert Smith and 200 other artists have signed the letter. It explicitly calls for protection against the "use of AI to steal the voices and image of professional artists, violate the rights of creators and destroy the music ecosystem"
The situation in Germany
In Germany, these legal interests are fundamentally protected. As early as 1999, the Federal Court of Justice established in its "Marlene Dietrich ruling" (case no. I ZR 49/97) that the voice is part of the general right of personality under Article I and II (1) of the Basic Law.
The same applies to the right to one's own image.
Biometric data is also protected by the GDPR as personal data under data protection law.
The discussion surrounding Scarlett Johansen's voice and the AI voice used by ChatGPT shows that this issue is highly topical. It remains exciting to see what solution will ultimately be found to effectively protect artists' rights and personal rights on the one hand and to exploit the possibilities of AI on the other.
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