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Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

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Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#71

Post by duskwuff »

infotainment wrote: post #38
aaronharnly wrote: post #11

Well, this confirms that OpenAI have been shooting from the hip, not that we needed much confirmation. The fact that they repeatedly tried to hire Johansson, then went ahead and made a soundalike while explicitly describing that they were trying to make it be like her voice in the movie … is pretty bad for them.

It’s definitely sketchy (classic OpenAI) But my question is: is what they did actually illegal? Can someone copyright their own voice?

It's not precisely copyright, but most states recognize some form of personality rights, which encompass a person's voice just as much as the person's name or visual appearance.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#72

Post by astrange »

MrSkelter wrote: post #29
endisneigh wrote: post #16

Sadly not much will come of this. Even if they’re fined, so what?

You have no idea. Th will settle or be forced to admit they used a movie studios IP without payment to clone a voice model. They will cut a check for tens of millions and maybe stock as well. They will run from this as is clearly obvious from the immediate takedown. They are in crisis mode.

Who says creating a voice model from a movie would require you to pay anyone?

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#73

Post by mmh0000 »

PixelPaul wrote: post #9

I am really not liking this Sam guy and how he does things. He has an attitude of “my way and only my way, and I don’t care what you think or do”

You don't like the sister rapist Sam Altman[1][2]? Seems like everybody should LOVE this guy!

[1] https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman...

[2] https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/p/statement-by-annie-altman-...

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#74

Post by emmp »

infotainment wrote: post #38
aaronharnly wrote: post #11

Well, this confirms that OpenAI have been shooting from the hip, not that we needed much confirmation. The fact that they repeatedly tried to hire Johansson, then went ahead and made a soundalike while explicitly describing that they were trying to make it be like her voice in the movie … is pretty bad for them.

It’s definitely sketchy (classic OpenAI) But my question is: is what they did actually illegal? Can someone copyright their own voice?

There are two similar famous cases I know offhand. Probably there are more.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midler_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

Bette Middler successfully sued Ford for impersonating her likeness in a commercial.

Then also:

https://casetext.com/case/waits-v-frito-lay-inc

Tom Waits successfully sued Frito Lay for using an imitator without approval in a radio commercial.

The key seems to be that if someone is famous and their voice is distinctly attributeable to them, there is a case. In both of these cases, the artists in question were also solicited first and refused.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#75

Post by ThinkBeat »

SJ mentions deep fakes.

It is quite possible that OpenAI has synthesized the voice from SJ material.

However If OpenAI can produce the woman who did is the current voice, and she has a voice nearly identical that of SJ would that mean OpenAI had done something wrong?

Does SJ since she is a celebrity hold a "patent" right to sound like her.

The more likely scenario is that they have hired a person and told her to try and imitate how SJ sounds.

What is the law on something like that?

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#76

Post by aaronharnly »

infotainment wrote: post #38
aaronharnly wrote: post #11

Well, this confirms that OpenAI have been shooting from the hip, not that we needed much confirmation. The fact that they repeatedly tried to hire Johansson, then went ahead and made a soundalike while explicitly describing that they were trying to make it be like her voice in the movie … is pretty bad for them.

It’s definitely sketchy (classic OpenAI) But my question is: is what they did actually illegal? Can someone copyright their own voice?

I’m not a lawyer and don’t have any deep background this area of IP, but there is at least some precedent apparently:

> In a novel case of voice theft, a Los Angeles federal court jury Tuesday awarded gravel-throated recording artist Tom Waits $2.475 million in damages from Frito-Lay Inc. and its advertising agency.

> The U.S. District Court jury found that the corn chip giant unlawfully appropriated Waits’ distinctive voice, tarring his reputation by employing an impersonator to record a radio ad for a new brand of spicy Doritos corn chips.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-09-me-238-st...

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#77

Post by keepamovin »

steveBK123 wrote: post #69
keepamovin wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She choose to forego being a billion lonely guys AI girlfriend To suggest that Johansson’s only appeal is to the opposite gender (and ‘lonely’ ones at that!) I think is myopic and reductive of her impact

That is not her only appeal, she is a renowned actress. However Sam tweeted "her" which is literally the movie where she voices the AI girlfriend. And then made a synthetic replica of her voice the star of their new demo against her wishes. It's pretty direct what he is pitching at.

Fair enough. But I think your comment was reductive…

but it doesn’t matter, because how he may have marketed it in a 140 character tweet does not encompass the entirety of how it could be used, of course

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#78

Post by dylan604 »

oglop wrote: post #22
PixelPaul wrote: post #9

I am really not liking this Sam guy and how he does things. He has an attitude of “my way and only my way, and I don’t care what you think or do”

That’s all successful tech companies out of Silicon Valley. It is a silly place.

On second thought, let's not go there.

It's not just successful companies though. There is a bit of ego necessary in a founder that makes them think their idea or their implementation of a thing is better so that it needs to be its own company. Sometimes though they even get caught up in their own reality distortion fields with obviously bad ideas or ideas implemented badly due to their own arrogance that ultimately fails.

Re: Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI "Sky" voice

#80

Post by idontknowtech »

dilap wrote: post #12

> 4. Naughtiness > Though the most successful founders are usually good people, they tend to have a piratical gleam in their eye. They're not Goody Two-Shoes type good. Morally, they care about getting the big questions right, but not about observing proprieties. That's why I'd use the word naughty rather than evil. They delight in breaking rules, but not rules that matter. This quality may be redundant though; it ma…

> They delight in breaking rules, but not rules that matter.

To them*

Which is the whole problem. These narcissistic egotists think they, alone, individually, are capable of deciding what's best not just for their companies but for humanity writ large.

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