You are sometimes allowed to use someone else’s voice or content (like text or sound recordings) without their permission. This will be the case in limited circumstances including:
- private study and non-commercial research
- education
- caricature, parody and satire
- artistic and political speech contributing to public debates.
- quotation
- criticism and review
Using someone’s voice or content without their permission is only possible if you respect
certain, strict conditions.
- First | You must ensure that the act and purpose of voice cloning fits the legal
definition of “personal use and private research”, “education”, “parody and satire” and
“artistic or political speech” which are narrow. We describe what each of these
phrases mean below. - Second | The voice clone you create and share cannot impact the economic
interests or tarnish the reputation of the person whose voice or content has been
used. - Third | The voice clone you create cannot engage in harmful, discriminatory or hate
speech as defined by law. You should also respect the privacy of the person whose
voice you are cloning.
It is also important to credit your sources and disclose that content has been manipulated. Look up ‘Credit your source materials’ and ‘Disclose content manipulation’ to find out more.
Use of voice or content for private study and non-commercial research
You can use another person’s voice or content for private study and non-commercial research without their permission.
Private study is defined as the task of learning new knowledge. Research is understood as the process of studying to eventually create new knowledge. In practice, the two are often connected.
You cannot share the voice clone with other people, and you cannot direct a commercial gain (direct or indirect) from either activity. If you do, you will need the permission of the people owning the rights to the materials you’ve used.
For example, a student can upload an academic paper to generate a voice clone narrating the text. This way they can listen to the paper they have been asked to read by their teacher. The student can create the voice clone without asking for the permission of the author of the paper, and using any voices they like. The student cannot share their voice clone with
another student or a friend without permission from the owners of the paper or the voice.
Use of voice or content for education
Schools and other education establishments can use content without the permission of the people owning the rights to the materials if they are used for teaching purposes.
Schools and other education establishments may use the voices of anyone who can reasonably expect their voices to be imitated or reused in public like public figures or performers.
This allowance only applies if teaching services are provided on a non- commercial basis.
For example, a lecturer can generate a voice clone of a poem so she can play the narrative to her students in class. The lecturer can use the voice of any public figure she likes to create the voice clone. She does not need permission from the poet, their publisher to use the source materials in this way. The lecturer cannot share the voice clone outside the context of teaching her students. The lecturer must make sure her students know the content is generated using voice cloning technology.
Use of voice or content for caricature, parody and satire
You can use voice cloning technology to make a caricature, parody or satire of a person, or of the content they’ve created. You can use the voice of anyone who can reasonably expect their voices to be used in the context, like a public figure.
The voice clone needs to be sufficiently different from the source materials. The intention to produce a caricature, parody or satire needs to be very clear and obvious. The voice clone also needs to communicate an element of humour or mockery to be recognized as a caricature, parody or satire. You cannot use caricatures, parodies or satires to convey discriminatory messages, hate speech or other harmful content.
For example, any internet user can generate a voice clone of a political figure like former US President Donald Trump or French Président Emmanuel Macron without their permission.
The voice clone will need to express humour or mockery in a way that it is clear to the listener that what they are hearing is a parody, and not authentic content. The internet user is allowed to share their voice clone with others and must mention the parody was generated using voice cloning technology.
Use of voice or content criticism or review
You can use another person’s voice or content without their permission for criticism or review. The source materials need to be publicly available before you use them in your voice clone for criticism or review.
Your voice clone can comment on any aspects of the source materials you’ve used or convey strong negative opinions about the content if they are not defamatory.
For example, a film critic can create a voice clone to narrate his review of a film using the voice of the lead actor. The critic can also use dialogues from the film to generate the voice clone. His review can be positive or critical of the film or the actor’s performance. The critic cannot use his review to defame or unfairly tarnish the actor’s reputation or anyone else’s mentioned in the voice clone. He must mention that they generated the review using voice cloning technology.
Use of voice or content for quotation
You can quote someone’s content without their permission by using very short excerpts from source materials in your voice clone.
This mainly applies to the text prompting new speech in your voice clone which can be made of quotes from different texts (books, lyrics, newspapers).
Under existing laws, it is not clear whether you can use short excerpts of someone else’s voice without their permission. It may be possible to quote the voices of UK-based artists and public figures who do not own personality or similar rights in other countries. However, it can be difficult to find out whether someone holds such rights in countries outside the UK.
For this reason, it is safer to avoid using someone else’s voice without their permission in these circumstances. Instead, use one’s own voice or one of Voiceover Air’s default voices or ask for the person’s permission before using their voice in your voice clone.
Use of voice or content for artistic or political speech of public interest
You can use someone’s voice or content without their permission if your voice clone contributes to debates of public interest. In this context, your voice clone may be protected as “free speech”.
If your voice clone generates direct or indirect commercial benefits, it will be considered
“commercial speech” and be excluded from your right to “free speech”.
Note that your right of free speech is narrow and will be balanced against the rights of privacy and intellectual property owned by the people whose voice or content you are using.
For example, a journalist can generate a voice clone to narrate their argument in the context of a debate about climate change using the voice of different politicians to contrast their position on the topic. The journalist can use text from reports, books or articles to prompt new speech in the voice clone. The voice clone can use the politicians’ voices if it is relevant to the argument they make. The journalist must disclose that the content was generated using voice cloning technology.