[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a) The rights provided for in this part shall be deemed exclusive to the individual, subject to the assignment or licensing of such rights as provided in § 47-25-1103, during such individual’s lifetime and to the executors, heirs, assigns, or devisees for a period of ten (10) years after the death of the individual.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-1104 v2

  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Executor: includes an administrator, where the subject matter applies to an administrator. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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)

(1) Commercial exploitation of the property right by any executor, assignee, heir, or devisee if the individual is deceased shall maintain the right as the exclusive property of the executor, assignee, heir, or devisee until such right is terminated as provided in this subsection (b).
(2)

(A) The exclusive right to commercial exploitation of the property rights is terminated by proof of the non-use of the name, photograph, voice, or likeness of an individual for commercial purposes by an executor, assignee, heir, or devisee to the use for a period of two (2) years subsequent to the initial period of ten (10) years following the individual’s death.
(B) For purposes of subdivision (b)(2)(A), “use” includes the commercial availability of a sound recording or audiovisual work in which the individual’s name, photograph, voice, or likeness is readily identifiable.
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