{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T06:23:13.720Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"voice-actors","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":2,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2020-canadian-voice-actor-alleged-tiktok-text-to-speech-used-her-voice-without-permission-suit-settled","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Plaintiff was hired by the Institute of Acoustics to'; 'perform voice work purportedly for Chinese translations'; 'and artificial intelligence technology'; 'Plaintiff did not have a contract with the Institute of Acoustics'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'She thinks the company got her voice from recordings she says she did for the Institute of Acoustics'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Standing says she was hired by the Institute of Acoustics for voice work described as Chinese translations, related to text-to-speech and AI technology, which left the institute with files of her voice, and that she had no contract allowing their transfer.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff’s allegations and interview; not tested in court."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'During November of 2020, Plaintiff discovered that her electronic voice'; 'generated voice of TikTok'; 'Plaintiff was not compensated for the use of her voice and likeness and'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'According to Standing, a computer-generated version of her voice was built into a feature that converts text typed into the app into a voice'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"She alleges that she discovered in November 2020 that ByteDance had acquired her voice files and was using her voice, without permission or payment, as the female computer-generated voice of TikTok's text-to-speech feature.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff’s allegations; TikTok never confirmed the voice was hers."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the TikTok user is able to'; 'determine what words are spoken in'; 'have involved foul and offensive language'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The complaint says TikTok users chose the words spoken in her voice and that some videos had it say foul and offensive language.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff’s allegations."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'noticed a new female voice narrating their videos on Monday, about three weeks after a Canadian actor filed a lawsuit'; 'CBC News asked TikTok about the voice change, but the company did not comment on it or the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'they did change their text-to-speech voice two weeks after the original lawsuit'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"About three weeks after she sued, TikTok users noticed a new female voice narrating videos; TikTok did not comment on the change or the case.","causal_attribution":"Reported observation of the voice change; the two reports give different intervals (two and three weeks)."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'from Robert Sciglimpaglia dated 09/25/2021 re: Settlement'; 'hereby dismissed and discontinued without costs, and without prejudice to the right to reopen the action within thirty days'; 'STIPULATION OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and between the parties and/or their respective counsel(s) that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice against the defendant(s) ByteDance Inc.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Her lawyer wrote to the court about a settlement on 25 September 2021 and the court dismissed the action on 29 September 2021, allowing reopening within thirty days if the settlement was not consummated; on 29 October 2021 a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice was filed.","causal_attribution":"Docket entries."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'told The Verge that the settlement is still being finalised, and the details should not be disclosed'; 'he added that TikTok would also license'; 'While TikTok has never confirmed that Bev was indeed behind their original text-to-speech voice'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Her lawyer told The Verge the settlement was an amicable resolution whose details would not be disclosed and that TikTok would license her voice; TikTok never confirmed that she was behind its original voice.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff’s lawyer’s statement relayed by MusicTech; TikTok’s non-confirmation recorded as counterevidence."}],"effects":[{"label":"voice actor alleges a computer-generated version of her voice was used as TikTok’s text-to-speech voice without permission or payment","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.559723/gov.uscourts.nysd.559723.9.0.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Amended complaint (ECF 9); allegations only.","independence_group":"standing-v-bytedance-litigation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/tiktok-voice-bev-standing-1.6040303","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Interview with the plaintiff and the reporter’s account of the voice change.","independence_group":"standing-v-bytedance-litigation"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59884390/standing-v-bytedance-e-commerce-inc/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Docket entries as listed on CourtListener (RECAP).","independence_group":"standing-v-bytedance-litigation"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://musictech.com/news/industry/tiktok-reaches-settlement-voice-without-permission-for-text-to-speech","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Relays the plaintiff’s lawyer’s statement to The Verge.","independence_group":"standing-v-bytedance-litigation"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["Whether TikTok's original text-to-speech voice was in fact built from her recordings; TikTok never confirmed it.","How her recordings reached ByteDance, if they did.","The settlement terms and whether TikTok used a licensed version of her voice afterwards.","How many videos used the voice."],"geography":{"basis":"The voice was used on a global app in videos the actor says were seen around the world, so no event country is recorded. The complaint says she is a Canadian citizen living in Ontario, recorded as the affected person's country. The court is the Southern District of New York.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): a named voice actor alleged in a federal suit, later settled, that TikTok's text-to-speech feature spoke users' words in a computer-generated version of her voice made without her permission. One source chain, her complaint and interview with the litigation record, read in four sources; the voice's origin remains her allegation.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"TikTok's text-to-speech feature generated speech in a computer-generated voice from text typed by users. The actor alleges, in her complaint and to CBC, that this voice was built from recordings she made for text-to-speech and AI work, so that it spoke in her voice whatever users typed, including offensive language (depicted_or_impersonated). That the voice was made from her recordings is her allegation; TikTok changed the voice after the suit but never confirmed its origin.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Canadian voice actor alleged TikTok's text-to-speech feature used a computer-generated version of her voice without permission; suit settled in 2021","summary":"Canadian voice actor Bev Standing alleged in a May 2021 federal suit in New York that ByteDance's TikTok was using her voice, without permission or payment, as the female computer-generated voice of its text-to-speech feature, which lets users choose the words spoken over their videos. Her complaint says she discovered this in November 2020, that the voice came from recordings she had made for the Institute of Acoustics for work described as Chinese translations related to text-to-speech, and that some videos made the voice say foul and offensive language. About three weeks after she sued, users noticed a new female voice on the feature (CBC); TikTok did not comment and never confirmed that the original voice was hers. The case was dismissed in September 2021 after her lawyer reported a settlement, whose terms were not disclosed.","incidentDate":"2020-11-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2021-05-05","aiSystem":"TikTok's text-to-speech feature, introduced in late 2020, which turns typed text into a computer-generated voice played over videos; the complaint alleges its original female voice was built from the actor's recordings","aiProduct":"TikTok text-to-speech","aiCompany":"ByteDance","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A voice actor alleged that TikTok used a computer-generated version of her voice, made from recordings she had supplied for other purposes, as its text-to-speech voice without permission or payment, including in videos with offensive language; the suit was settled.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the plaintiff whose voice the complaint says was used (amended complaint; CBC). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.559723/gov.uscourts.nysd.559723.9.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Standing v. Bytedance, S.D.N.Y. 7:21-cv-04033, amended complaint, 11 May 2021 (ECF 9)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:15:06.860563+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:15:06.860563+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["synthetic-voice","text-to-speech","voice-actors","tiktok","lawsuit","settlement","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2020-us-voice-actors-allege-lovo-sold-ai-clones-of-voices-recorded-for-research-court-lets-claims-proceed","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In May 2020 an anonymous Fiverr user'; 'later identified by Lovo’s counsel'; 'These are test scripts for radio ads. They will not be disclosed externally'; 'Lehrman was paid $1,200 for his work.'; 'Lovo paid her $400 for her work'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Lehrman was allegedly told his voice would be used only for a “research project” while Sage was told her voice would be used only for “test scripts for radio ads”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Lovo representatives on Fiverr hired Sage in October 2019 and Lehrman in May 2020 for voice recordings, telling Lehrman they were for research purposes only and Sage that they were test scripts for radio ads that would not be disclosed externally; he was paid $1,200 and she $400.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs’ allegations as recounted by the court and relayed by the press; not tested at trial."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'alleging that Lovo used artificial intelligence'; 'as part of its subscription service under the stage name'; 'Sage discovered that Lovo had created a clone of her voice named'; 'the Berkeley SkyDeck Demo Day Spring 2020'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The actors later found Lovo was offering AI-generated versions of their voices for sale as'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The plaintiffs allege that Lovo used the recordings with its AI software to create clones of their voices, marketed Lehrman's as \"Kyle Snow\" and offered Sage's as \"Sally Coleman\" to subscribers, and used a side-by-side comparison of Sage's real and cloned voice in a 2020 investor pitch.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs’ allegations; the AI generation is the core harm alleged."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'listened to an episode of the Deadline Strike Talk podcast narrated'; 'a paid subscription to Lovo.'; 'was virtually identical to Mr. Lehrman'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The plaintiffs say they learned of the use when they heard a podcast episode narrated in part by a Lovo-generated voice, which the podcast's MIT partner confirmed was made with a paid Lovo subscription and which they and people who heard it say was virtually identical to Lehrman's voice.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs’ allegations, including what MIT and listeners told them."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On August 18, 2023, counsel for Plaintiffs sent a cease-and-desist letter to Lovo'; 'fictitious characters'; 'had been created using the voice recordings obtained from Lehrman and Sage through Fiverr in 2020 and'; 'fully permissioned'; 'Plaintiffs dispute this'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the complaint, Lovo replied to an 18 August 2023 cease-and-desist letter that the characters had been created using the recordings obtained through Fiverr, that its use was fully permissioned, and that it had removed the characters; the plaintiffs dispute the removal.","causal_attribution":"Lovo’s letter as quoted in the complaint and recounted by the court; Lovo contests that the use was unauthorised."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'OPINION AND ORDER re: 27 MOTION to Dismiss the Amended Class Action Complaint filed by Lovo, Inc.'; 'based on the use of her original voice recording, and as to Plaintiffs'; 'contract claims, New York Civil Rights Law claims, and New York General Business Law claims'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'claims for misappropriation of a voice, like the ones here, may be properly asserted under Sections 50 and 51 of the New York Civil Rights Law'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'In his July 10 decision, SDNY Judge Paul Oetken granted in part and denied in part Lovo’s motion to dismiss'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"On 10 July 2025 the court granted Lovo's motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part, letting the New York Civil Rights Law, General Business Law and contract claims, and Sage's copyright claim over her original recording, proceed, and dismissing the training-based copyright claims with leave to amend.","causal_attribution":"The court’s own order; it decides legal sufficiency, not the truth of the allegations."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'SUGGESTION OF BANKRUPTCY upon the record as to defendant Lovo, Inc.'; 'In light of the bankruptcy filing noted at ECF 65, this case is hereby stayed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Lovo filed a suggestion of bankruptcy on 27 May 2026 and the court stayed the case on 28 May 2026.","causal_attribution":"Docket entries."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Lovo Inc., which was built to do just that, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"TheStreet reports that Lovo's bankruptcy filing is a Chapter 7 case.","causal_attribution":"A news report of the bankruptcy chapter; the bankruptcy court record was not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"voice actors allege their voices were cloned with AI from recordings made for promised internal use and sold without consent","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.621575/gov.uscourts.nysd.621575.45.0_2.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Opinion and Order of 10 July 2025; the background section recounts the amended complaint, presumed true for the motion.","independence_group":"lehrman-v-lovo-litigation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68535780/lehrman-v-lovo-inc/","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Docket entries as listed on CourtListener (RECAP), latest entry 30 July 2026.","independence_group":"lehrman-v-lovo-litigation"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-regulation/legal/actor-ai-lawsuit-621581","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Report of the 10 July 2025 ruling relaying the complaint and the plaintiffs’ lawyer.","independence_group":"lehrman-v-lovo-litigation"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.thefashionlaw.com/a-lawsuit-over-cloned-voices-poses-first-of-its-kind-legal-questions-over-ai/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). Legal-news analysis of the 10 July 2025 ruling.","independence_group":"lehrman-v-lovo-litigation"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/ai-voice-cloning-firm-lovo-inc-collapses-in-chapter-7-bankruptcy/ar-AA260icJ","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-23 by verifier mix12 (an AI agent) from MSN's syndicated copy of the TheStreet article (assets.msn.com content API, HTTP 200; the thestreet.com page returned HTTP 403). It dates the stay to 11 June 2026, which differs from the docket's 28 May 2026 entry; the docket date is used.","independence_group":"thestreet-lovo-bankruptcy"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["When the plaintiffs first heard the podcast and when Lovo first offered each clone to subscribers.","How many productions used the cloned voices; the plaintiffs' estimate rests on Lovo's YouTube material.","Whether the voices remained available after Lovo said it removed them.","Lovo's own factual account in its briefs, which were not inspected.","The outcome of the pending motion on the training-based copyright claim and of Lovo's bankruptcy."],"geography":{"basis":"The alleged uses described include an investor pitch at the Berkeley SkyDeck Demo Day and a podcast produced with MIT, both in the United States, so the event is placed in the US. The opinion says the plaintiffs live and work in New York, recorded as the affected persons' country. The court is the Southern District of New York.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): two named voice actors allege, in a suit whose voice-misappropriation and contract claims a federal court let proceed on 10 July 2025, that Lovo used AI to clone their voices from recordings made for promised internal use and sold the clones. One source chain, the litigation record, read in the opinion, the docket and two reports; all facts are attributed allegations.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint, as recounted by the court, says Lovo's AI text-to-speech software produced clones of the two actors' voices from their recordings and that Lovo sold them as \"Kyle Snow\" and \"Sally Coleman\"; Lovo's reply to the cease-and-desist letter, as quoted there, says the characters were created using those recordings, and the podcast's MIT partner is said to have confirmed that the narration was generated with Lovo. The generated voices imitated the actors (depicted_or_impersonated), and the harm alleged is that use without their consent. These are allegations the court presumed true; Lovo disputes that the use was unauthorised.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Voice actors allege AI voice firm Lovo sold clones of voices they recorded for research use; US court lets publicity, contract and consumer claims proceed","summary":"Voice-over actors Paul Lehrman and Linnea Sage allege in a proposed class action in the Southern District of New York that Lovo, a text-to-speech company, hired them through Fiverr in 2019 and 2020 for recordings it said were for internal research or test scripts, then used its AI software to make and sell clones of their voices under the names \"Kyle Snow\" and \"Sally Coleman\". According to the complaint as recounted by the court, they learned of it when they heard a podcast narrated in part by a Lovo-generated voice that they say was identical to Lehrman's, and Lovo answered their cease-and-desist letter by saying the characters were created from those recordings and that its use was \"fully permissioned\". On 10 July 2025 Judge J. Paul Oetken dismissed most federal trademark and copyright claims but let their New York Civil Rights Law, consumer-protection and contract claims, and Sage's copyright claim over her original recording, proceed. The case was stayed on 28 May 2026 after Lovo filed a suggestion of bankruptcy. The allegations have not been tested at trial.","incidentDate":"2020-01-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2024-05-16","aiSystem":"Lovo's AI text-to-speech subscription software, which the complaint (as recounted by the court) says Lovo calls \"Generator\" or \"Genny\" and markets as able to clone real voices; the voices at issue were sold as \"Kyle Snow\" and \"Sally Coleman\"","aiProduct":"Lovo Genny (reported)","aiCompany":"Lovo, Inc.","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Two voice actors allege that Lovo turned recordings they made for promised internal use into AI clones of their voices that it sold and used commercially without their consent; a federal court let their voice-misappropriation, consumer and contract claims proceed.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people, the named plaintiffs whose voices the complaint says were cloned (court opinion). The proposed voice-actor class is not counted because no other member is identified. Exact 2.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.621575/gov.uscourts.nysd.621575.45.0_2.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Lehrman v. Lovo, Inc., S.D.N.Y. Opinion and Order, 10 July 2025 (ECF 45)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:10:32.11919+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:10:32.11919+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-cloning","text-to-speech","voice-actors","right-of-publicity","lawsuit","new-york","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}