Scarlett Johansson vs Chat GPT What the Legal Claims Would Look Like

Did Scarlett Johansson’s voice inspire ‘Sky’? Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg of Weintraub Tobin unpack the controversy between Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI’s Chat GPT. Explore potential legal claims and the intricacies of voice rights in AI on this episode of The Briefing.

Get the full episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here or listen to this podcast episode here.

Show Notes:

Scott

Scarlett Johansson claims that Chat GPT’s voice of Sky is her voice, or is intended to be her voice. Despite Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, attempting to engage Johansson to voice Chat GPT, Altman claims that Sky isn’t her, that it’s a voice actress OpenAI hired well before his initial discussions with Scarlett’s agent. I’m Scott Hervey from Weintraub Tobin, and I’m joined today by a fellow Weintraub lawyer and frequent “Briefing” contributor, Jamie Lincenberg. We are going to talk about the Scarlett Johansson OpenAI controversy, the claims she could bring, and how those claims may fair on today’s episode of “The Briefing” by Weintraub Tobin.

Jamie, welcome back to “The Briefing.” I think this one’s going to be a good one.

Jamie

Thanks, Scott. It’s good to be back. I’m excited to dive in.

Scott

This has been in the news for quite a while now, and the facts are mostly out there. In a nutshell, Sam Altman approached Scarlett Johansson in September 2023 about voicing Chat GPT. According to Scarlett Johansson, Altman said that he felt that by voicing the system, she could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. Apparently, Altman felt that her voice would be comforting to people. Scarlett Johansson ultimately declined. Two days before the Chat GPT 4.0 demo was released, Altman contacted Johansson’s agent asking that Scarlett reconsider. Now, also sometime before the Chat GPT demo was released, Sam Altman tweeted, “Her”, which seems to point to the 2013 movie where Scarlett Johansson voiced a Siri-like AI assistant. Now, apparently, before the two could connect, the Chat GPT demo was released, and Scarlett began getting calls and emails from friends and family who thought that the Chat GPT voice, Sky, was her. Altman claims that the voice of Sky is that of a voice actor who was hired before he contacted Scarlett Johansson’s agent.

Jamie

Thanks, Scott. I think that sums up the facts. That’s far, fairly well. Let’s now talk about the type of claims that Johansson could bring. I think the first logical step is a right of publicity claim.

Scott

Yeah, I agree with you, Jamie.

Jamie

California’s right of publicity statute is Civil Code Section 3344 and prohibits the use of another’s name, voice, photograph, or likeness on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, such products, merchandise, goods, or goods without such person’s prior consent. California also has a common law right of publicity that’s a bit broader than the statute. If Johansson did bring a case, it would follow some of the soundalike recording cases that the Ninth Circuit has previously adjudicated.

Scott

Yeah, that’s right. The first was Midler versus Ford, and the second was Tom Waits versus Frito-Lay. Both of those cases involved the use of a soundalike singer singing a song in the style of that particular artist in TV commercial. Both Midler and Waits sued for violation of their rights of publicity under the Civil Code and also under California’s Common Law. T