Federal judge says voiceover artists AI lawsuit can move forward

A federal judge in New York has allowed a lawsuit to move forward from two voice-over artists alleging their voices were stolen by an AI voice startup.

The judge dismissed artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage claims that their voices were subject to federal copyright.

But claims from the artists of breach of contract and deceptive business practices, as well as separate copyright claims alleging that the voices were improperly used as part of the AI’s training data, will, however, move forward.

California-based Lovo Inc. had asked for the case to be dismissed entirely. The company has not yet responded to the BBC’s request for comment.

The judge’s decision comes after a flood of cases from artists against artificial intelligence companies alleging misuse of their work to train AI models.

The artists’ attorney, Steve Cohen, has called the decision a “spectacular” victory for his clients, saying he was confident a future jury will “hold big tech accountable”.

Lawyers for Lovo had called the artists’ allegations a “kitchen sink approach” saying the artists’ claims failed to make an actionable claim against the company.

The artists, a couple living in New York City, filed a proposed class action lawsuit in 2024 after learning alleged clones of their voices were for sale via Lovo’s text-to-speech platform Genny.

The couple claim they were separately approached by anonymous Lovo employees for voice-over work through the online freelance marketplace Fiverr.

Lehrman was paid $1200 (around £890). Sage received $800 (almost £600).

In messages shared with the BBC, the anonymous client can be seen saying Lehrman and Sage’s voices would be used for “academic research purposes only” and “test scripts for radio ads” respectively.

The anonymous messenger said the voice-overs would “not be disclosed externally and will only be consumed internally”.

Months later, while driving near their home in New York City, the couple listened to a podcast about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood and how artificial intelligence (AI) could affect the industry.

This episode had a unique hook – an interview with an AI-powered chatbot, equipped with text-to-speech software. It was asked how it thought the use of AI would affect jobs in Hollywood.

But, when it spoke, it sounded just like Mr Lehrman.

“We needed to pull the car over,” Mr Lehrman told the BBC in an interview last year. “The irony that AI is coming for the entertainment industry, and here is my voice talking about the potential destruction of the industry, was really quite shocking.”

Upon returning home, the couple found voices with the names Kyle Snow and Sally Coleman available for use by paid Lovo subscribers.

They later found Sage’s alleged clone voicing a fundraising video for the platform –while Lehrman’s had been used in an advertisement on the company’s YouTube page.

The company eventually removed the voices, saying both voices were not popular on the platform.

The case is now set to move ahead in the US District Court in Manhattan.