Navigating Copyright Law in the Age of AI-Generated Voices

This decade has witnessed a tremendous shift in the landscape of content generation. The recent entrance of various generative artificial intelligence tools in the entertainment industry cannot be labelled as anything but unprecedented. Various artists, writers and other players who occupy the creative front of the entertainment industry naturally stand to lose the most. With the opportunities within the industry already being so few and far between, there exists a very real danger of further contraction of opportunities within the industry. Between all of these developments, we must not forget that voice actors have become one of the most vulnerable groups who are in danger of being side-lined by the recent entry of AI voice cloning tools in the industry. This paper will seek to problematize copyright protection and argue that it should extend to one’s voice. Literature within this domain does not pertain to empiricism and the lenses used to analyse copyright law have not been expanded to include recent developments in the industry. This paper is a doctrinal endeavour, which focuses primarily on Indian copyright law and refers to American jurisprudence with regard to the same. An analysis of cases such as Midler v. Ford Motor Co. and Eastern Book Company & Ors vs D.B. Modak & Anr have been used to demonstrate the need to impart copyright protections to voices as a cause of action. This paper will also refer to scientific papers, articles and journals to situate these generative AI models in the context necessary for a novel application of copyright law. This will enable us to identify and guarantee remedies for those who are in danger of being subject to exploitation.