BPI Threatens to Sue Jammable Over Its AI Voice Cloning Services
- Michele
- 26 March 2024, Tuesday
UK’s music trade association BPI has threatened to sue the AI voice cloning service Jammable (formerly Voicify.ai) over giving users access to the voices of famous artists.
BPI threatens to sue Jammable (Voicify.ai)
Cloning and repurposing voices with AI tools is a controversial practice. In the creative industry and community, it is criticized by many. Artists and labels alike fear that others may use their voices for inappropriate purposes or to generate songs without their consent or financial benefits.
Now, a company that offers voice cloning services is facing potential legal consequences for copyright infringements. As reported by Music Business Worldwide, the UK-based voice cloning service Jammable (formerly known as Voicify.ai) has officially been asked to remove the voices of various artists from its services. Otherwise, it may face legal consequences threatened in a letter by the British recorded music industry's Trade Association BPI.
Jammable's catalog includes more than 3,000 voices, including those of famous artists like Tupac Shakur, Adele, Bruno Mars, or Juice WRLD. Users can essentially create cover versions of songs by using the voices of other artists. Such covers have been popular on TikTok and in the meme community, with users cloning the voices of musicians, public figures, or cartoon characters and having them sing popular songs.
RIAA's concerns over AI voice cloning services
The service has previously been under fire by the RIAA. In 2023, it published its annual submission to the Office of the US Trade Representative to raise concerns about copyright infringement, counterfeiting, and music piracy. The document, which now lists AI voice cloning services, contains the following paragraph:
"The year 2023 saw an eruption of unauthorized AI vocal clone services that infringe not only the rights of the artists whose voices are being cloned but also the rights of those that own the sound recordings in each underlying musical track. This has led to an explosion of unauthorized derivative works of our members' sound recordings, which harm sound recording artists and copyright owners."
Such concerns are valid not only because of the services offered but because of their popularity. According to the RIAA, 8.8 million individuals have visited Voicify.ai in 2023.
The voice cloning service has yet to comment on the threats and accusations. So far, its only 'response' has been to change its name from Voicify.ai to Jammable. However, the decision may be coincidental and not directly connected to BPI threatening to sue the voice cloning service.
