AI law comparison · Data verified 2026-08-25
Tennessee ELVIS Act vs Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes)
Tennessee ELVIS Act and Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) are two of the 169 AI and data regulations Aegis Firma tracks. They have different scopes, effective dates, and penalties — and many businesses fall under both. Here is the side-by-side, drawn directly from the regulatory registry.
Find which laws apply to my businessSide by side
Summary of publicly available regulatory text. Verify against current official sources before relying on this for compliance decisions. Not legal advice.
The key difference
Tennessee ELVIS Act takes effect first, so it is usually the more urgent of the two. Tennessee ELVIS Act tracks 4 compliance requirements and Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) tracks 3. They are not interchangeable — meeting one does not discharge the other. The practical question is not which law is “stricter,” but which of them — or both — actually applies to your business.
Tennessee ELVIS Act — Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024
Tennessee's ELVIS Act (HB 2091/SB 2096, Public Chapter 588, signed March 21, 2024, effective July 1, 2024) was the first US law specifically protecting individuals' voices from AI replication without consent. Rather than creating a new chapter, it renamed and rebuilt the Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984 as the "Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024" (§ 47-25-1101) and inserted "voice" through…
Full Tennessee ELVIS Act requirementsTexas SB 441 — AI Nonconsensual Intimate Visual Materials
Texas SB 441 (signed June 20, 2025, effective September 1, 2025) makes knowingly producing or distributing nonconsensual intimate "deep fake media" a crime (amended Penal Code § 21.165(b)) and separately criminalizes THREATENING to produce or distribute such media to coerce, extort, harass, or intimidate someone (§ 21.165(b-1), a Class B misdemeanor even if no deepfake is ever made), and creates civil liability to th…
Full Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) requirementsCommon questions
Could both Tennessee ELVIS Act and Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) apply to my business?
Yes. Tennessee ELVIS Act and Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) are separate regulations with separate scopes — a business can fall under both at once. Tennessee ELVIS Act covers Applies to any person or business that (a) knowingly uses an individual's name, photograph, voice or likeness for advertising, merchandise, goods, services, or… Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) covers Applies to: (1) any person who knowingly produces or distributes nonconsensual intimate deep fake media of an identifiable real person (criminal, Penal Code § 2… If your operations meet both scopes, you must comply with both. Aegis Firma's free scan checks all 169 tracked regulations against your business profile so you do not have to read each law to find out.
Which has the higher maximum penalty — Tennessee ELVIS Act or Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes)?
Tennessee ELVIS Act: Criminal: Class A misdemeanour under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-152 — up to 11 months 29 days in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. (PC 588 § 12 amended only § 39-14-152(g) to substitute the new Act name; the criminal offence itself predates and sits outside § 47-25-1106.) Civil under § 47-25-1106: injunctive relief, seizure/impoundment and destruction of infringing materials, actual damages plus the violator's profits attributable to the unauthorised use, and punitive damages where available. Enhanced remedy at § 47-25-1106(d)(2): three times actual damages plus reasonable attorney fees where a person knowingly uses or infringes the rights of a "member of the armed forces" — defined as a member of the US armed forces or of a reserve or Tennessee National Guard unit who is in, or was called into, active service. NOTE (R514): that treble provision is pre-existing Personal Rights Protection Act law, not something the ELVIS Act created; PC 588 does not contain it. Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes): Criminal: production/distribution is a Class A misdemeanor, elevated to third-degree felony with a prior § 21.165 conviction or where the depicted person is under 18 (Penal Code § 21.165(c)), plus mandatory restitution for psychological, financial, or reputational harm (§ 21.165(e)); the SEPARATE threat offense (§ 21.165(b-1) — threatening to produce/distribute to coerce, extort, harass, or intimidate) is a Class B misdemeanor, rising to Class A with a prior conviction or a minor victim. Civil: damages to the depicted person (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 98B.0021–.0022); platform-duty violations are DTPA-actionable (§ 98B.0022(e)) with AG injunctive relief and costs/fees for repeated violations (§ 98B.0022(f)) Penalty structures differ by regulator and violation type — read each law's full page for the cure periods and per-violation detail.
When does each law take effect?
Tennessee ELVIS Act — effective 2024-07-01. Texas SB 441 (AI Deepfakes) — effective 2025-09-01. Dates last verified against official sources on 2026-08-25 and 2026-08-22 respectively.
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