Lovo accused of stealing voice-over artists' voices

AI startup Lovo has been accused in a class action lawsuit of stealing the voices of two voice-over artists, Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage, to create an AI voice generator called Genny. What happened Two artists, Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage, claim they were misled into providing voice samples through freelance website Fiverr under the impression the recordings would be used solely for internal or academic purposes, rather than commercial AI training or cloning. They were paid USD 1200 and USD 400, respectively, for reading scripts and were told the recordings would be used internally or for academic purposes. Years later, they found out their voices were cloned and used publicly without their consent or additional payment. Lehrman discovered that his voice had been used to narrate a YouTube video about Russian military equipment. He also heard himself being interviewed as an AI-generated character on an episode of the Deadline “Strike Talk” podcast. The lawsuit alleges Lovo sold these cloned voices to thousands of customers for commercial uses such as ads, films, and presentations without proper compensation or permission. Seeking damages of at least USD 5 million for the class, the actors have accused Lovo of fraud, false advertising and violating their publicity rights. Lovo refused to comment publicly on the allegations to journalists and others. Why it happened It appears Lovo's founders may have sought to exploit known legal loopholes, including relating to licensing and copyright, to use the actors' voices without their knowledge or consent for commercial purposes. What it means The case raises transparency, ethica l and legal concerns about Lon o's approach to AI voice cloning, and the honesty, integrity and values of the company's leadership. More generally, it also the impact of the technology on artists' control over their professional futures and voice rights , and the need for clear, effective regulation to protect creators' rights, ensure ethical AI use, and address potentially widespread unauthorised exploitation of human voices in synthetic media. The outcome of the Lono case may influence legal precedent and industry standards around AI voice cloning and digital identity rights. System 🤖 Genny Developer: Lovo Country: USA Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Develop AI voice generator Technology: Generative AI; Machine learning; Text-to-speech Issue: Accountability; Autonomy; Human/civil rights; Transparency Regulation ⚖️ NY Civ Rights L § 51 (2022) Lanham Act Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️ Lerhmann v Lovo

Date it happened

2019-01-01

Organisation involved

Lovo

Product, system or model

Genny

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.