Voice-Over Artists' AI Theft Lawsuit Advances in Federal Court

A federal judge in New York has allowed the lawsuit by two voice-over artists, alleging their voices were misappropriated by Lovo, to move forward despite some claims being dismissed.

A New York federal judge has granted the green light for artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage's lawsuit against AI voice startup Lovo Inc., which they allege illegally used their voices in its AI training datasets and for commercial purposes. While the judge dismissed claims related to federal copyright, breach of contract and deceptive business practices, as well as allegations pertaining to improper use as training data, are set to continue in court.

Lovo had sought to have the case dismissed entirely but has not publicly commented after the ruling. This lawsuit is a part of a growing trend, with numerous artists taking legal action against AI firms, claiming their original work has been misused to build AI models. The couple's attorney, Steve Cohen, called the ruling a significant victory and expressed optimism that a jury will ultimately hold these technology companies accountable.

Lehrman and Sage are a couple residing in New York City who filed a class-action suit after learning that their voices had been replicated on Lovo’s text-to-speech platform, Genny. They alleged they were approached by Lovo employees via Fiverr for voice work, with assurances that their recordings were for internal use only. However, they later discovered their voices being used in various mediums including advertisements and videos without their consent.

The shocking revelation came while they listened to a podcast featuring an AI chatbot that sounded remarkably like Lehrman. The couple was further disturbed to find clones of both their voices available to Lovo subscribers. The case will now continue in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan as it seeks to clarify the legal landscape surrounding AI and intellectual property rights.