Published on June 14, 2024 at 3:47 p.m. / Modified on June 14, 2024 at 6:13 p.m.
“Sky’s voice is in no way an imitation of Scarlett Johansson’s.” The American company OpenAI, publisher of ChatGPT and therefore of its voice assistant Sky, was quick to react when Scarlett Johansson claimed that the voice of the interactive robot was based on hers.
“At a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own image, our own work, our own identity, I think these issues deserve absolute clarity,” lamented Scarlett Johansson, saying she was waiting “impatiently” for “appropriate legislation to help ensure the protection of individual rights.
Is Scarlett Johansson’s voice free from any transparency? Concerning copyright protection, no, says Sabrina Konrad, specialist in these subjects at the Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. The reason: “This dispute does not relate to a performance by Johansson, but to the alleged use of his voice or a copy of his voice.” In this context, Yaniv Benhamou, expert in data protection and intellectual property, specifies: “Voice is an attribute of personality, it is therefore protected. But we must distinguish the protection of personality (which concerns the voice, image or any other attribute of the person) from the protection of copyright (which concerns their artistic creations).”
These questions therefore fall under civil law. Like the rest of our personal data, voice is protected by article 28 of the Civil Code as well as personal data protection laws (the GDPR in Europe and the LPD in Switzerland), recalls Yaniv Benhamou. Regarding generative artificial intelligence, he adds an important clarification:
“The Johansson case is a practical case of data used without authorization,” he concludes.
