Judge Allows Voice Actors' Lawsuit Over AI Voice Cloning to Proceed
A federal judge in New York allowed a lawsuit by voice-over artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage against AI startup Lovo to proceed. The artists allege Lovo used their voices without permission to create AI-generated voice clones that were sold commercially, claiming they had been misled about the intended use of their voice recordings.
What happened
Voice-over artists Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Lovo Inc. in 2024 after discovering AI-generated clones of their voices were being sold via Lovo's text-to-speech platform Genny under the names "Kyle Snow" and "Sally Coleman".
The artists were separately approached through the freelance marketplace Fiverr by anonymous clients who claimed to represent Lovo and offered them payment for voice-over work. Lehrman was told his voice would be used only for a "research project" and paid $1,200; Sage was told her voice would be used for "test scripts for radio ads" and paid $800. Both were assured their voices would not be disclosed externally and would only be consumed internally.
Reported impact
The artists discovered their voices were being used in a fundraising video for Lovo's platform and in an advertisement on the company's YouTube page. Lovo eventually removed the voices, claiming they were "not popular".
Index analysis
US District Judge J. Paul Oetken dismissed the artists' claims that their voices were subject to federal copyright and trademark protections, but allowed revised copyright claims alleging improper use of their voices in AI training data to proceed, along with claims of breach of contract and deceptive business practices under New York law.
Governance controls
Lovo had moved for the case to be dismissed entirely, arguing the plaintiffs failed to state an "actionable claim", but the judge permitted the case to move forward in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.