𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘

We have spent some time watching these developments, and this is an important article to read. When we talk about AI and actors, the conversation often focuses on faces, digital doubles and synthetic performers. But there is another part of the actor that now needs just as much attention: the voice. AI can increasingly clone, manipulate, translate and reproduce a human voice, sometimes creating entirely new material that the original performer never actually recorded.

𝗔 𝗝𝗔𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘

One of the most significant recent developments came from Japan, where actor and voice performer Kenjiro Tsuda brought legal action after an AI-generated imitation of his distinctive voice was used without permission in more than 180 TikTok videos. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the commercial use of the cloned voice infringed his publicity rights and recognised that a person’s voice can represent their identity in much the same way as their image. For actors, this matters because the conversation is moving beyond ownership of a recording and towards control over the identity contained within that recording.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://apnews.com/article/a2a9596a197f149398771a9166043ef

𝗦𝗔𝗚-𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗥𝗔 𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔

SAG-AFTRA is now treating voice cloning as a central performer-rights issue. Its current work around AI includes consent, compensation, digital replicas and the NO FAKES Act. Its animation agreements are especially interesting because they make clear that voice actors are human beings and that a created character voice can also qualify for digital-replica protection. That is important because an actor may create a voice that sounds nothing like their normal speaking voice, yet that performance still has commercial and creative value. The union has also negotiated protections around AI-generated foreign-language versions, which is likely to become increasingly important as AI dubbing develops.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://www.sagaftra.org/member-specialty/voiceover

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗞 𝗜𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Equity has intensified its campaign for specific personality rights in the UK, covering a person’s voice, face, body and likeness. The union says performers, especially voice artists, are already encountering cases where recordings made for one purpose are later used to clone a voice for other commercial purposes without further permission or payment. Equity’s position is that licences should be personal, non-exclusive, time-limited and tied to specific projects. That is a crucial distinction. Agreeing to one defined use is very different from signing away broad rights in perpetuity.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://www.equity.org.uk/news/2026/equity-responds-to-louise-haigh-s-comments-on-ai-performers-need-personality-rights-now

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗬

A recent Vanderbilt Law School analysis looked at the experience of voice actors Paul Lehrman and Linnea Sage and highlighted just how fragmented US protection can still be. Copyright may protect a recording. State publicity rights may protect aspects of identity. Contract law may govern how recordings are used. But those separate protections do not automatically amount to one simple rule preventing someone from creating an AI version of your voice. That is exactly why actors need to pay close attention to the contracts they sign.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://law.vanderbilt.edu/cloned-without-consent-the-patchwork-protection-for-voice-actors-from-ai/

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗢 𝗙𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗕𝗘 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗝𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗

In the United States, the bipartisan NO FAKES Act is intended to create federal protection against unauthorised digital replicas of a person’s voice or visual likeness. That matters because current protection can vary considerably from state to state. A national framework could establish a much clearer principle: the fact that technology can reproduce someone’s identity does not mean that identity is free to exploit.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/5/technology/blackburn-coons-salazar-dean-colleagues-introduce-revised-version-of-no-fakes-act

𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗜, 𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦

The European Commission has opened a consultation examining how technologies including generative AI interact with copyright and related rights. This is important for actors because a voice recording can involve several overlapping issues at once: copyright, performers’ rights, personal data and contractual rights. Once that material is used to train or generate synthetic content, the legal questions become far more complex.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-seeks-feedback-challenges-and-way-forward-area-effect-technology-copyright

𝗦𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥?

The most important thing actors can do now is stop looking only at the fee. If a contract involves AI, voice recording, digital replicas or machine learning, ask exactly what you are consenting to. Find out whether the material can be used to train an AI system, whether your voice can be used to generate new dialogue, how long the licence lasts, whether it can be sublicensed or transferred, whether you retain approval over future uses and how you will be paid if your digital voice is used again. Pay particular attention to words such as “perpetual”, “irrevocable”, “worldwide”, “all media”, “future technologies”, “machine learning”, “AI training”, “synthetic voice”, “digital replica”, “derivative works” and “sublicensing”. None of those words automatically means a contract is bad, but you should understand exactly what they mean before you sign.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://www.equity.org.uk/advice-and-support/know-your-rights/ai-toolkit/equitys-ai-vision-statement

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

We do not believe AI has to be the enemy of actors. Ethical voice licensing, dubbing, localisation and accessibility tools could create real opportunities. But the actor must remain in control. For us, four words sit at the centre of this debate: 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. If an actor chooses to licence their voice, that should be their decision. They should know where it will be used, for how long, what they will be paid and what safeguards are in place.

Our voices are not simply sound files. They contain our training, our character choices, our accents, our timing and part of our professional identity. As AI becomes capable of reproducing more of that, actors need contracts and laws that recognise its value.

𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿.

Stay informed. Ask questions. Read what you sign. Your voice may be one of the most valuable things you own as a performer.

Stay informed right here with us

Tracey and Claire ❤️

2 comments

𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗜 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘