A federal judge in New York has approved the initial stages for a proposed class action lawsuit against the popular mobile app. Voice-over actors Paul Skye Lehrman and Linnea Sage brought the suit against California-based Lovo Inc. In 2024, one of those licensees—Lovo Inc.—found itself the subject of a lawsuit. The suit accuses the firm of illegally modeling artists’ voices on its text-to-speech platform, Genny.
Lehrman and Sage, who are based in New York City, are definitely setting the bar high. They claim to have discovered clones of their own voices for sale via Genny. According to the lawsuit, Lehrman’s voice was allegedly used in an advertisement featured on Lovo’s YouTube channel, while Sage’s voice clone appeared in a fundraising video for the platform.
The specific financial compensation received by the artists further complicates the case. Lehrman took home $1,200 for his voice work, and Sage received $800. Their lawyer, Steve Cohen, who has represented blacklisted pilots in the past, is hopeful about the case’s chances. He hailed the court’s decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed as a “spectacular” win.
They have an extremely strong case. He is optimistic that a future jury will have the courage to hold big tech accountable for its wrongdoing. The lawsuit alleges that Lovo Inc. misappropriated Lehrman and Sage’s voices for commercial purposes without their consent. This action has severely impacted their ability to make a living as professional voice-over artists.
Lehrman still remembers the moment they learned that their voices had been cloned without permission. We have to stop the car,” they told us. This visceral response reveals the container-opening emotional effect of that discovery on both artists. It’s indicative of their moral panic over the ethical effects of artificial intelligence on creative fields.
As this lawsuit continues, it will pose important questions for the balance between innovation and the protection of intellectual property rights. This result has the potential to set important precedents. It will empower voice-over artists and other creatives to more effectively defend their work in the digital age.