This case is the first of its kind being ruled on in China, sounding an alarm for AI enterprises that they must obtain legal authorization before using a person's voice for large-model trainings and development.
The plaintiff, a voice-over narrator surnamed Yin, found out in May, 2023 that her voice was being used in numerous audiobooks online without her consent. After investigating, she discovered that an AI-powered tool was being used to replicate her voice and sell it to different platforms for profit.
Yin believes that it was one cultural media company, with whom she had previous business dealings, that handed over the audio recordings of her audiobooks to another software company which then processed Yin's voice using AI technology and sold it to operator of the app "Magic Sound Workshop".
The court decided that the defendants – the cultural media company and the software company – are jointly responsible for compensating Yin for economic losses of 250,000 yuan ($34,507).
The operator of the app and the software company are also required to issue an apology to the plaintiff within seven days of the judgment taking effect.
The Beijing Internet Court remind AI companies to first obtain legal authorization from individuals for their voice rights. Their ruling stated that a natural person's voice is identified by voiceprint tone and frequency, possessing unique and stable characteristics that can evoke thoughts or emotions associated with that individual.
While a natural voice may be less recognizable after artificial intelligence synthesis, it does not imply that it is not legally protected, as the technology does not always sever the link with natural human voices.
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