A federal judge in New York has ruled that the lawsuit initiated by voice-over artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage can continue, focusing on allegations that their voices were wrongfully utilized by Lovo Inc., an AI voice startup. Although the judge rejected the artists’ claims related to federal copyright infringement, their accusations concerning breach of contract and deceptive business practices, as well as other copyright assertions linked to the misuse of their voices for AI training, will still move forward.
Lovo Inc., based in California, sought to have the entire case dismissed but has yet to comment on the judge's ruling. This case adds to the growing list of lawsuits from artists against AI companies, each claiming that their work has been illegitimately appropriated for training AI models. The artists' attorney, Steve Cohen, hailed the ruling as a significant win for his clients, expressing optimism that a jury will hold tech companies accountable for such actions.
Lehrman and Sage, who live in New York City, claim that they were approached separately by Lovo representatives via the freelance platform Fiverr for voice-over projects. Each artist received compensation for their work, under the impression that their recordings would be used only for specific internal purposes. The situation took a surprising turn when the couple heard an AI-generated voice closely resembling Lehrman's while listening to a podcast discussing AI's impact on the entertainment industry.
Upon further investigation, they discovered that their voice samples were available through Lovo's text-to-speech service. Sage's voice was allegedly featured in a fundraising video for Lovo, while Lehrman's voice appeared in an advertisement on YouTube. The company has since removed these AI replicas, citing low popularity.
The lawsuit is now set to advance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, as the artists seek recourse for what they believe to be the exploitation of their voices without consent.
