The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has identified voice-cloning services as threats to musicians’ intellectual property, and reported Voicify particularly to the U.S. government.
This action was achieved in a submission to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in which the RIAA asked the government to include the synthetic voice category in the official list of entities that promote piracy or counterfeiting.
Voicify.ai was the only service called out by name, though it certainly is not the only service in the game. Voicify offers an easy use case: The user gives it a YouTube video (for the song) and chooses a voice — celebrity voices include Bruno Mars, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and non-music voices including Donald Trump.
The RIAA makes two complaints. First, ripping the YouTube video (more specifically, its song and performance). Second, appropriating the voices of famous singers — the RIAA frames that complaint as a Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) issue as a legal definition.
