An Advertising Agency in Memphis That Asks Whose Voice Is in the Spot

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

A radio spot for a Memphis car lot comes back from the studio with a narrator who sounds like someone every listener would recognize, and nobody in the room can say who agreed to that. Tennessee law gives every individual a property right in the use of their name, photograph, voice and likeness, and since July 1, 2024 a simulated voice counts as well as a real one. An advertising agency in Memphis clears each of those before a spot runs, not after a lawyer’s letter arrives. Progression is based in New York, plans Memphis campaigns remotely, and offers on-site sessions on request.

A spot that sounds like someone famous

The card below is a hypothetical script for a used car lot. In the margin, the voice direction reads sounds like a famous singer. No name, song or lyric appears on it, and no clearance is on file.

That direction is the first line an agency strikes, or clears in writing. A voice that sounds like a particular person is the situation Tennessee law was widened in 2024 to reach.

• Read the voice direction on every script before the session.
• Strike any line that points to a particular person unless consent is on file.
• Keep the script version that went to the studio.

What an advertising agency in Memphis clears before a spot runs

Tennessee House Bill 2091, as amended by House Commerce Amendment No. 1 (HA0578) and tracked on the General Assembly’s bill page, renamed the Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984 the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024. The act took effect July 1, 2024. Section 47-25-1103 now says every individual has a property right in the use of that individual’s name, photograph, voice or likeness in any medium in any manner.

Section 47-25-1105(a)(1) says a person who knowingly uses an individual’s name, photograph, voice or likeness in any medium for advertising products, merchandise, goods or services, or for fundraising or solicitation, without the individual’s prior consent is liable to a civil action. This page does not say whether any given spot is covered. Ask counsel about each one.

What does the law mean by voice?

The amendment defines voice as 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. A soundalike is therefore a question for counsel, not an assumption.

The spot broken into its people

Take a spot apart the way a producer would, element by element. For each, the table names whose consent the law names, what the agency keeps on file and when it is gathered.

Can an agency rely on a talent agent’s word?

A signed release from the individual, or from someone the law names, is the record that counts. An agent’s email is a start, and the file should hold the signed paper.

• Ask the agent for the individual’s signed release.
• Keep the email with the release, not instead of it.

Voices made with software

Section 47-25-1105(a)(3) says a person is liable to a civil action who distributes or makes available an algorithm, software, tool or other technology whose primary purpose or function is the production of a particular, identifiable individual’s photograph, voice or likeness, knowing that making it available was not authorized. An agency that uses a generated voice keeps a note of where it came from and who permitted it.

• Record the tool and the version that made the voice.
• Keep the written permission of the person the voice is built on.
• Ask counsel before using a voice that sounds like a real person.

A child on camera

The law names the minor’s parent or legal guardian as the person whose prior consent counts. The agency gets that consent before the shoot, from the person who has the authority, and keeps a copy.

• Ask for the parent’s or guardian’s signature on the release itself.
• Name the media and the term on the form.
• Keep the call sheet with the guardian’s contact.

When the person has died

For a deceased individual, the law names the executor or administrator, heirs or devisees. Section 47-25-1104(b)(2) also provides that the exclusive right to commercial exploitation ends on proof of non-use for two years after the initial period of ten years following the individual’s death, and says commercial availability of a sound recording or audiovisual work counts as use. Whether that applies to a particular person is a question for counsel.

• Do not assume a person’s rights have lapsed.
• Ask counsel who the right people are for a given individual.
• Keep the consent and counsel’s note together.

Budgeting a campaign with clearances built in

Consents and releases belong in the written scope as line items, so the cost of clearing is visible when the budget is set. Airtime and placements are priced by the seller, and talent and usage fees are set by the talent or their representative. Figures below are published for the market, from a typical low to a published high.

Progression quotes after a written scope. Pricing depends on scope and is confirmed in a written proposal, and published prices are subject to change.

Uses the law calls fair

Section 47-25-1107(a) says that, to the extent a use is protected by the First Amendment, it is deemed a fair use and not a violation if it falls within the list on the cards below.

An ad that leans on parody or on a news clip goes to counsel first. The list is limited by the First Amendment protection it refers to, and an advertisement is the use most likely to need a closer look.

Does parody make an ad safe?

Not by itself. The law lists satire and parody as fair use only to the extent the First Amendment protects the use, and whether it does is a legal question about the particular ad.

Releases that say the word voice

Older releases were written for photographs. A release for a spot now names voice as well as image, names the media and the term, and covers edits and cutdowns.

• Name voice, name, photograph and likeness in the release.
• List each medium and each period the release covers.
• Cover edits, translations and cutdowns.
• Give a synthetic or cloned voice its own written permission.
• Have counsel write the release language.

What should a release name?

The person, the elements it covers, the media, the period and the territory. The table shows the media a spot often runs in and what the consent should say about each.

When a record label can step in

Section 47-25-1106(f) says where a person has entered into a contract for an individual’s exclusive personal services as a recording artist, or an exclusive license to distribute sound recordings that capture the individual’s audio performances, an action to enforce the rights may be brought by that person or the individual.

A spot that uses a recording artist’s voice, or a recording of it, clears with both the artist and the holder of the contract or license. Asking only one is how a clearance goes wrong.

• Ask who holds the exclusive rights to any recording before it is used.
• Get both permissions in writing.
• Ask counsel who the right holders are.

When a digital marketing agency in Memphis reuses the footage

The right covers any medium. A television cut trimmed for social, search or a website still advertises, so consent should name each place the clip will run.

A marketing company in Memphis and the website photos

A marketing company in Memphis that puts staff and customer photographs on a client’s site is using likenesses for advertising. Treat the site like an ad: get written consent that names the site and the period, and keep it in the file.

• Photograph only people who have signed.
• Name the site and social channels on the release.
• Remove a photograph when consent ends.

Questions for SEO companies in Memphis about staff pictures

SEO companies in Memphis often publish team pages and author photographs. If the photo advertises the business, get written consent, and ask counsel about edge cases.

• Ask each staff member before a photograph goes live.
• Keep the consent with the page’s records.

Testimonials and customer photos

A customer who praises a business on camera lends a name, a face and a voice to its advertising. The release should say so plainly and should let the customer see the cut before it runs.

Who signs a testimonial release?

The customer, and for a child the parent or legal guardian. A testimonial from a business owner is still a person’s face and voice.

• Use a release written for testimonials, not a generic one.
• Say where and for how long the testimonial will run.
• Keep the original recording and the edit list.
• Ask before reusing it in a new medium.

Why keep a folder for every spot?

Because questions arrive years later and memories fade. A folder answers who agreed to what, for which media and for how long.

The clearance folder for each spot

One folder per spot keeps the evidence in one place. A producer who picks it up two years later can see who agreed to what.

Related pages cover a radio advertising agency and an influencer marketing agency. Our digital marketing services page lists the wider range of work.

Related services and guides

Pages that sit beside this element list:

• Digital advertising agency
• Radio advertising agency
• Influencer marketing agency

Frequently asked questions