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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

#951

Post by MrMetlHed »

kelnos wrote: post #660
worstspotgain wrote: post #558

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds judicious. You probably wouldn't get sued, and would prevail if sued. However, the question of how much human voice space Scarlett can lay claim to remains unsettled. Your example suggests that it might be quite a bit, if law and precedent causes people to take the CYA route. Consider the hypothetical: EvilAI, Inc. would secretly like to piggyback on the success of Her. They hire Nancy Schmo for their training…

> However, the question of how much human voice space Scarlett can lay claim to remains unsettled I don't think it's that unsettled, at least not legally. There seems to be precedent for this sort of thing (cf. cases involving Bette Midler or Tom Waits). I think the hypothetical you create is more or less the same situation as what we have now. The difference is that there maybe isn't a paper trail for Johansson to u…

There are other ways public figures are treated differently in the courts in the US. It's much more difficult for them to prove libel or slander, for instance. They have to prove actual malice and intent, whereas a private citizen just has to prove negligence. I imagine "owning" their likeness at a broader sense is the flip side of that coin.

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

#952

Post by Intralexical »

windexh8er wrote: post #497
nickthegreek wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This statement from scarlet really changed my perspective. I use and loved the Sky voice and I did feel it sounded a little like her, but moreover it was the best of their voice offerings. I was mad when they removed it. But now I’m mad it was ever there to begin with. This timeline makes it clear that this wasn’t a coincidence and maybe not even a hiring of an impressionist (which is where things get a little more w…

The thing about the situation is that Altman is willing to lie and steal a celebrity's voice for use in ChatGPT. What he did, the timeline, everything - is sleazy if, in fact, that's the story. The really concerning part here is that Altman is, and wants to be, a large part of AI regulation [0]. Quite the public contradiction. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-artificial...

"Not consistently candid", the last board said.

Like many people who try to oppose psychopaths though, they don't seem to be around much anymore.

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

#953

Post by HDThoreaun »

wasteduniverse wrote: post #867
nox101 wrote: post #854

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not confirmation. That's called prudence.

Ask to use Alice's likeness in my product, get declined. Ask again. Debut product, users say "this sounds a lot like Alice". The day my product releases, I make a public statement referencing a movie Alice starred in. When Alice asks how I made my product, I delete all access to the product. How else am I supposed to interpret this?

Have you met any corporate lawyers? Its all about CYA

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

#954

Post by cutemonster »

jesterson wrote: post #706
svachalek wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has a certain charm and seeming sincerity when he talks. But the more I see of him, the more disturbing I find him -- he combines the Mark Zuckerberg stare with the Elizabeth Holmes vocal fry.

so all psychopaths do, aren't they?

Not the physically violent ones with impulse control problems.

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

#955

Post by prepend »

jrflowers wrote: post #739
prepend wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was about functionality more than the specific voice.

What part of the functionality from the movie Her did you think it meant?

How the assistant was aware of what was happening around the user and would reply with context dependent info. And retain memory of previous interactions. And appear to have preferences for itself.

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

#956

Post by Lia_the_nun »

creato wrote: post #768
barbariangrunge wrote: post #666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone is so mad about them stealing a beloved celebrity’s voice. What about the millions of authors and other creators whose copyrighted works they stole to create works that resemble and replace those people? Not famous enough to generate the same outrage?

I think the unique thing about this case is not specifically the "voice theft", but that OpenAI specifically asked for permission and were denied, which eliminates most of the usual plausible deniability that gets trotted out in these cases.

Is it really better to take something without asking than to ask and then take it anyway if denied?

In my mind these are close to being equally shitty, but not asking is a shittier because the victim won't necessarily know they've been exploited, which limits the actions they will be able to take to rectify matters.

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

#957

Post by stonogo »

dyno12345 wrote: post #462
ncr100 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scar Jo thought it sounded like herself, and so did people who knew her personally. That is what matters. OWNERSHIP over her contributions to the world.

I'm not sure how much you currently legally own imitations of your own voice. There's a whole market for voice actors who can imitate particular famous voices.

When those imitations are commercialized, there is a disclaimer that a celebrity voice is being impersonated, and parody is a legally protected form of speech. OpenAI is not parodying anything, and failed even the low bar of having a disclaimer.

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

#958

Post by r2_pilot »

nicce wrote: post #742
visarga wrote: post #565

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> since it is not exactly identical voice, or even not that close, they can plausibly deny it When studios approach an actress A and she refuses, then another actress B takes the role, is that infringing on A's rights? Or should they just scrap the movie? Maybe if they replicated a scene from the A's movies or there was striking likeness between the voices... but not generally.

> When studios approach an actress A and she refuses, then another actress B takes the role, is that infringing on A's rights? Or should they just scrap the movie? The scenario would have been that they approach none.

Your scenario leads to the disenfranchisement of lesser-known voice talent, since they cannot take on work that Top Talent has rejected if they happen to resemble(nobody here has seen their doppelganger before? How unique is a person? 1 in 5 million? Then there are 36 million of that type in just the United States alone). Perhaps it's time to re-evaluate some of the rules in society. It's a healthy thing to do periodically.

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

#959

Post by r2_pilot »

falloutx wrote: post #863
LewisVerstappen wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They approached Johansson and she said no. They found another voice actor who sounds slightly similar and paid her instead. The movie industry does this all the time. Johansson is probably suing them so they're forced to remove the Sky voice while the lawsuit is happening. I'm not a fan of Sam Altman or OpenAI but they didn't do anything wrong here.

Then they should credit that actress and we can see if its legit, otherwise we believe they used copyrighted audio from S. Johansson's movies.

>otherwise we believe they used copyrighted audio from S. Johansson's movies.

I will slightly rewrite the quoted bit to reflect reality as is currently known by the public: "otherwise we assert without evidence they used copyrighted audio". I'm fully of the opinion that everyone on both sides is wrong here, and I'm only right because I hold the most minimal opinion; that everyone needs to go outside and touch grass because this whole thing is bizarre and pointless.

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

#960

Post by QuantumGood »

barbariangrunge wrote: post #666
nickthegreek wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This statement from scarlet really changed my perspective. I use and loved the Sky voice and I did feel it sounded a little like her, but moreover it was the best of their voice offerings. I was mad when they removed it. But now I’m mad it was ever there to begin with. This timeline makes it clear that this wasn’t a coincidence and maybe not even a hiring of an impressionist (which is where things get a little more w…

Everyone is so mad about them stealing a beloved celebrity’s voice. What about the millions of authors and other creators whose copyrighted works they stole to create works that resemble and replace those people? Not famous enough to generate the same outrage?

Lots of posts about that. This is new ("news") and celebrity, so it's getting traction at the moment.
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