Federal judge says voice-over artists' AI lawsuit can move forward

A federal judge in New York has decided that a lawsuit filed by two voice-over artists against an artificial intelligence company can continue. The artists, Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage, claim that Lovo, a California-based AI voice startup, used their voices without proper permission. The judge dismissed their claim that their voices were protected by federal copyright law, but allowed other parts of their lawsuit to move forward. These include claims that Lovo broke a contract and engaged in deceptive business practices, as well as claims that the company used their voices as training data for its AI without their consent. Lovo had asked the court to throw out the entire case, but the judge disagreed. The company has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The case began when Lehrman and Sage discovered that their voices were being sold on Lovo's text-to-speech platform, Genny, under different names. The couple, who live in New York City, say they were first contacted by anonymous Lovo employees through the freelance website Fiverr. Lehrman was paid $1200 and Sage received $800 for their voice work. They were told their recordings would be used only for academic research or to test radio ads, and that the recordings would not be shared outside the company. However, months later, the couple heard a podcast featuring an AI chatbot that sounded exactly like Lehrman. This shocking discovery led them to investigate further, and they found their voices being used in various ways on Lovo's platform, including in fundraising videos and advertisements.

After the artists complained, Lovo removed the voices from its platform, saying they were not popular with users. However, Lehrman and Sage decided to take legal action, arguing that the company had misused their voices and broken its promises. Their lawyer called the judge's decision to let the case continue a 'spectacular' victory, expressing confidence that a jury would hold the tech company accountable. This lawsuit is part of a growing number of legal challenges from artists and creators who say AI companies are using their work without permission to train new technologies. The case will now move forward in the US District Court in Manhattan, where the artists hope to prove that Lovo acted improperly and to set a precedent for how AI companies handle creative work.