Eight French voice actors raise their voice against AI companies, accused of cloning their voices

An unprecedented collective action within this profession, victim of the wave of generative AI. To stop “parasitic acts”eight French dubbing actors have sent formal notices to two American companies having cloned their voices without their consent.

In letters dated January 30 consulted on Tuesday by AFP, these actors who have dubbed Hollywood stars (Julia Roberts, Richard Gere…) and animated characters (Buzz L’Éclair, Cartman…) demand Voice Dub and Fish Audio to remove from their platforms all “cloning models exploiting (their) voice” within eight days. They are also demanding 20,000 euros in damages.

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“Parasitic” interpretation

The dispute centers around a specific functionality: the possibility offered by these platforms, for payment, of having a text read with a voice chosen from a large catalog, which notably includes those of Emmanuel Macron, Kylian Mbappé and big names in French dubbing.

Françoise Cadol, who notably lends her voice to Angelina Jolie or Sandra Bullock, immediately recognized hers, despite the timbre “slightly altered”stunned that her voice could be used for commercial purposes without her consent.

“Everything happens without our authorization, we interfere with our interpretation, we are annihilated, hacked. It’s our job, we live by our voice”explains to AFP the actress who already sees, among other voice actors, work opportunities dwindling.

A demonstration in Paris

Faced with the threat that generative artificial intelligence poses to the entire industry (studios, actors, etc.), actors recently took to the streets in Paris and launched a collective “Don’t touch my VF” demanding a “dubbing created by humans for humans”.

With her formal notice, Françoise Cadol wants to take the next step to say her “disagreement” and also hopes to alert “the public authorities to bring about a practical solution that allows us to defend ourselves”. French voice of Cartmanrecurring character from the cartoon South ParkChristophe Lemoine also joined this collective action and sees in these practices “something very serious”. “My voice is taken to make anyone say anything and they get paid without me even having the slightest say”he complains to the AFP, deploring a “legal void”.

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This debate goes far beyond France. In 2023, American star Scarlett Johansson uncovered the use of her voice without her consent by the start-up OpenAI, which designed ChatGPT. The company then backed down. More recently, American actor Matthew McConaughey filed video clips of his image and audio of his voice with the American Intellectual Property Institute to protect them from wild AI.

Application of French law

“The actors are on the front line today but tomorrow, it will perhaps be our voices, our images, those of our children which will be broadcast and could be falsified”tells AFP specialist lawyer Jonathan Elkaim, who represents the eight French dubbing actors and who is awaiting a clear response from the two platforms.

If they remain unanswered, the formal notices will be followed by a summons to court, promises the lawyer. According to him, these platforms, even if they are installed in the United States, cannot escape French protections on copyright and privacy, of which voice is legally one of the elements.

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“Given that the manifestly illicit content distributed by these companies is aimed without any hesitation at a French public and that it can be purchased in France, French law applies”he proclaims. When contacted, the two targeted companies did not react immediately.