Court Rules AI Voice Clone of German Actor's Dub Voice Infringes Rights
A German court ruled that a YouTuber unlawfully used AI voice cloning software to impersonate voice actor Manfred Lehmann without consent, creating synthetic narration for right-wing political videos linked to an online shop. The court found the use infringed Lehmann's personality rights and ordered the YouTuber to pay 4,000 euros as a fictional license fee.
What happened
A YouTuber used AI voice cloning software to generate a synthetic copy of Manfred Lehmann's voice without his knowledge or consent and used it to narrate several videos with politically right-wing content.
The cloned voice was deployed to increase reach and drive sales for a linked online shop, with no disclosure that the narration was AI-generated.
Reported impact
The court found the use of the cloned voice created a false impression that Lehmann had endorsed the political content, which the court deemed particularly problematic in a political context.
Index analysis
The YouTuber argued he had simply sought a voice with a 'heroic sound' and used a variant suggested by the software, and invoked artistic and free speech rights. The court rejected these arguments, finding that personality rights took precedence over artistic or speech freedoms in this case, especially because the AI origin was not disclosed.
Governance controls
Landgericht Berlin II ordered the YouTuber to cease unauthorized use of the cloned voice and awarded Lehmann 4,000 euros as a fictional license fee (the value the YouTuber would have owed had he legally used Lehmann's actual voice), plus interest.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.