Chinese voice actor sues AI companies for using her voice without consent

A voiceover artist in China filed a lawsuit alleging an AI-generated voice resembling her own was used in audiobooks without her consent. What happened The voiceover artist, Yin, su ed 5 companies, including the provider of the AI text-to-speech system and the company that had recorded her voice. The system in question uses generative artificial intelligence to recreate voices, allegedly with high precision. This case is seen to venture into uncharted legal territory, where traditional copyright laws may not apply, thereby potentially setting a precedent for how individual likeness (e.g. “right to voice”) in the era of AI is perceived and protected.. Yin argue d this represents a threat to her work and potential income, and added to concerns raised by voice actors globally over the future of their profession. In April 2024, the court determined that the AI-generated voice was identifiable as Yin's due to its close resemblance in tone and style, thus infringing on her voice rights under Chinese law. The defendants in the case were ordered to cease activities and pay compensation to the voice actor. Why it happened The case arose from Yin's discovery that her recordings, initially made for a media company, were used to train an AI system without her knowledge or consent. The defendants argued that they had legally obtained the recordings and that the AI-generated voice was sufficiently distinct from Yin's original voice. However, the court found that the AI's output closely matched Yin's vocal characteristics, leading to public association with her identity. What it means The ruling establishes a precedent for protecting individual voice rights in China, affirming that such rights extend to AI-generated voices when they can be associated with a specific individual. The court ordered the defendants to cease using Yin's voice and to pay her RMB 250,000 (approximately USD 34,500) in damages. The case emphasises the need for clear consent when using personal voices in AI applications and may prompt further legal developments regarding personality rights as technology continues to evolve. Personality rights Personality rights, sometimes referred to as the right of publicity, are rights for an individual to control the commercial use of their identity, such as name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal identifiers. Source: Wikipedia 🔗 System 🤖 Unknown Operator: Developer: Country: China Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Generate audio Technology: Text-to-speech; Deepfake - audio; Neural network; Deep learning; Machine learning Issue: Accountability; Employment; Personality rights; Transparency

Date it happened

2023-12-01

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