[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a) Every individual has a property right in the use of that individual’s name, photograph, voice, or likeness in any medium in any manner.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-1103 v2

  • Individual: means human being, living or dead. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Likeness: means the use of an image of an individual for commercial purposes. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Photograph: means any photograph or photographic reproduction, still or moving, or any videotape or live television transmission, of any individual, so that the individual is readily identifiable. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Voice: means a sound in a medium that is readily identifiable and attributable to a particular individual, regardless of whether the sound contains the actual voice or a simulation of the voice of the individual. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1102 v2
(b) The individual rights provided for in subsection (a) constitute property rights and are freely assignable and licensable, and do not expire upon the death of the individual so protected, whether or not such rights were commercially exploited by the individual during the individual’s lifetime, but shall be descendible to the executors, assigns, heirs, or devisees of the individual so protected by this part.
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