Scarlett Johansson hits AI app with legal action for cloning her voice in an ad
www.theverge.com
This likely won’t be the first time this happens.

Scarlett Johansson hits AI app with legal action for cloning her voice in an ad | An AI-generated version of Scarlett Johansson’s voice appeared in an online ad without her consent.::Scarlett Johansson is taking legal action against an AI app developer for using her likeness in an online ad without her consent.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    161·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Scarlett Johansson is taking legal action against an AI app developer for using her name and likeness in an online ad, according to a report from Variety.

    As reported by Variety, the 22-second ad showed Johansson behind the scenes while filming Black Widow, where she actually says “What’s up guys?

    It’s Scarlett and I want you to come with me.” But then, the ad transitions away from Johansson, while an AI-generated voice meant to sound like the actress states: “It’s not limited to avatars only.

    At the very bottom of the ad, Variety reports that Convert Software — the developer behind the app — included text that reads: “Images produced by Lisa AI.

    It has nothing to do with this person.” Representatives for Johansson tell Variety that the actress was never a spokesperson for the app and that her attorney, Kevin Yorn, “handled the situation in a legal capacity.”

    Neither Yorn nor Convert Software responded to The Verge’s request for comment about the nature of the legal action.

    The original article contains 311 words, the summary contains 168 words. Saved 46%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • thejodie@programming.devEnglish
    14·
    1 year ago

    There are people out there who sound a lot like SJ and you could probably clone their voice a lot cheaper. I worked with one and it was always uncanny.

  • Etterra@lemmy.worldEnglish
    141·
    1 year ago

    I hope it wasn’t some shitty Chinese mobile game. They rip off stuff constantly and just keep getting away with it.

  • fattylumpkin@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    111·
    1 year ago

    Feel badly for her. First she had to take the studio to court over Black Widow and now this.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      101·
      1 year ago

      I don’t really. It isn’t good these thanga happen, but it’s not like she needs to do anything. She just pays her lawyers a small portion of her fortune and she gets more money. I feel bad for the people who actually need the work getting screwed, which this will hopefully set a precedent for.

  • quaddo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    Man, I misunderstood the headline. I thought the AI had created a likeness of her voice, and SJ was going after them for that.

    Which begs the question, just how unique are our voices? There’s being distinct, and then there’s being literally one of a kind.

    • Instigate@aussie.zoneEnglish
      18·
      1 year ago

      Voice alone? It might be very difficult to claim you have a unique voice unless you’re Gilbert Gottfried or Bobcat Goldthwait. The issue in this ad was that it showed a real clip of Johansson saying ‘follow me’ before the images cut to something else and the AI-copy Johansson voice continued. The fake voice was heavily insinuated to be Johansson because it picked up where a real clip of Johansson left off.

      It would be very hard to prove a person intended to mimic a specific person when creating an AI voice unless it’s accompanied by corroborating imagery.

  • quaddo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    Very true, and along the lines of what I was thinking.

    But it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a way to establish a voice print. In fact, isn’t that already a thing? Even if it is a little rough around the edges, it wouldn’t surprise me if we were even closer to a higher reliability than thought.

    With or without that, consider the copyright infringement suits for someone wanting to protect their song, melody, or whatever. Someone could poke at the 8 keys of a toy piano, and if a music artist’s legal team felt it sounded close enough to the original? The ol’ beatdown-by-seeking-damages trick if not a cease and desist order.

    Anyway. If someone has enough money and too much time, they’ll make a case out of anything.

      • Parabola@lemmy.worldEnglish
        52·
        1 year ago

        Yes and no. If it’s a business registered in a foreign country that won’t play ball, there’s not much you can do. Especially with something like ads