Voicing Concerns

Posted on Jun 11, 2024 by

Last week I wrote about actress Scarlett Johansson’s concerns over OpenAI’s unauthorized use of her voice for their artificial intelligence software. She is not alone in her plight.

Voice actors Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage are suing AI firm Lovo for allegedly commissioning them for voice projects under false pretenses to create and sell AI-generated versions of their voices. Lovo, a tech company based in Berkeley, California, advertises AI-generated voice technology to be used in marketing, education and product demos.

Lehrman and Sage filed suit in the Southern District Court of New York and are seeking class action status to include other people “whose voices and/or identities were stolen and used,” according to their complaint. The pair is seeking more than $5 million in damages, as well as a court order blocking Lovo from continuing the alleged use of their voices.

Lehrman’s claim stems from a job he got in May of 2020. At the time, he received a request for voice-over narrative services on Fiverr.com, a gig work website, from an account called “User25199087.” When he asked what the voice sample was for, he was told it would be used “for academic research purposes only” and that “the scripts would not be used for anything else.” He was paid $1,200 for the job.

Similarly, Sage was offered a job on Fiverr.com in 2019 to record “test scripts for radio ads” that she was told would “not be disclosed externally.” She was paid $400.

According to their complaint, two years later, Lehrman discovered a YouTube video that sounded as if he had narrated it, although he’d never been involved in its creation. The next year, he claims his voice was used on a podcast about the dangers of AI technologies. Likewise, Sage says she also discovered her voice in a YouTube video of a Lovo investor demonstrating its technology.

Lehrman and Sage’s lawsuit is the latest in a recent trend of similar actions brought against various tech companies by actors, writers and artists who say their work was used without their permission to train AI systems that could ultimately compete with them. The suits assert that AI models violate copyright and intellectual property laws.

Lehrman and Sage allege that the people who contacted them on Fiverr were actually Lovo employees who misrepresented what their voice samples would be used for and later profited from the sale and use of AI-versions of their voices.

“Implicit in LOVO’s offerings to its customers is that each voice-over actor has agreed to LOVO’s terms and conditions for customers to be able to access that actor’s voice,” the complaint states. But for Lehrman and Sage and any others “who have not agreed to LOVO’s terms, the continued unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ voices is theft of service and misappropriation.”

“To be clear,” the complaint continues, “the product that customers purchase from LOVO is stolen property. They are voices stolen by LOVO and marketed by LOVO under false pretenses.”

Given the string of lawsuits in this area, we have to assume that legislation will be coming to regulate the industry. I just hope the bill isn’t generated by AI.



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Reg P. Wydeven

Elder Law and Estate Planning Attorney at McCarty Law LLP
Hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps from a young age, Reg’s practice primarily consists of advising individuals on estate planning, estate settlement and elder law matters. As Reg represents clients in matters like guardianship proceedings and long-term care admissions, he feels grateful to be able to offer families thorough legal help in their time of need.
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