New York
CNN
—
Voice actor Paul Skye Lehrman took a job in 2020 for which he believed he was offering a set of one-off voice samples. Years later, he says he heard his voice narrating a YouTube video after which on a podcast — although he had by no means recorded both of them.
Now, Lehrman, together with fellow voice actor Linnea Sage, is suing AI agency Lovo for allegedly commissioning them for voice initiatives beneath false pretenses with a view to create and promote AI-generated variations of their voices. The Berkeley, California based mostly tech firm advertises AI-generated voice expertise for use in advertising and marketing, schooling and product demos.
Lehrman and Sage are suing Lovo and looking for class motion standing to incorporate different folks “whose voices and/or identities have been stolen and used,” in line with the complaint filed Thursday within the Southern District Courtroom of New York. The criticism was first reported by the New York Instances.
The voice actors’ lawsuit is simply the newest in a current string of legal actions introduced in opposition to various tech companies by creatives, writers and artists who say their work was used with out their permission to coach AI techniques that might finally compete with them. Such lawsuits have added to a rising wave of issues over how the coaching of AI fashions, which requires large swaths of information, might run afoul of copyright and mental property legal guidelines.
“Implicit in LOVO’s choices to its clients is that every voice-over actor has agreed to LOVO’s phrases and circumstances for patrons to have the ability to entry that actor’s voice,” the criticism states. However for Lehrman and Sage and any others “who haven’t agreed to LOVO’s phrases, the continued unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ voices is theft of service and misappropriation.”
Lovo didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the lawsuit.
In Might 2020, Lehrman says he obtained a request for voice-over narrative companies on the gig work web site Fiverr from an account referred to as “User25199087.” When he requested what the voice pattern was for, he was informed it will be used “for tutorial analysis functions solely” and that “the scripts wouldn’t be used for anything,” in line with the criticism. He was paid $1,200 for the job, the criticism states.
Two years later, Lehrman got here throughout a YouTube video that sounded as if it had his voice narrating it, though he’d by no means been concerned in its creation, the criticism states. Then in June 2023, Lehrman claims he heard his voice getting used on a podcast concerning the risks of AI applied sciences.
Equally, Sage was supplied a job on Fiverr in 2019 producing “check scripts for radio adverts” that she was informed would “not be disclosed externally,” in line with the criticism. She was paid $400.
Sage says she later additionally found her voice in a YouTube video: a recording of a Lovo investor presentation demonstrating its expertise.
Lehrman and Sage allege that the individuals who contacted them on Fiverr have been Lovo workers who misrepresented what their voice samples can be used for and later offered or raised cash on the again of the AI-version of their voices.
“To be clear, the product that clients buy from LOVO is stolen property. They’re voices stolen by LOVO and marketed by LOVO beneath false pretenses,” the criticism states.
The actors are looking for greater than $5 million in damages, in addition to a courtroom order blocking Lovo from persevering with the alleged use of their voices.