Motown legend Lionel Richie has applied to trademark the sound of his voice to protect it from AI clones, joining a growing list of celebrities fighting back against unauthorized use of their vocal likenesses.
Richie's Trademark Applications
The Hello star made four applications in the US covering audio of him saying phrases from his best known songs, including "Hello, is it me you're looking for?" as well as Say You, Say Me, Easy Like Sunday Morning, and All Night Long.
The move was driven by growing fears over AI voice cloning, with a raft of stars looking at new ways of protecting their likeness. Taylor Swift has already applied to register her voice saying "Hey, it's Taylor" and "Hey, it's Taylor Swift," while actor Matthew McConaughey sought protection over audio of his famous "Alright, alright, alright" line from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused.
Addressing the AI Threat
These filings appear to be designed to address the impending problem of artificial intelligence programs training on famous voices and replicating them in new songs without compensation or attribution. It could also protect them from being used in movies or advertising campaigns.
To win federal registration, Richie would need to prove that consumers associate his voice singing those specific lyrics with particular goods or services. Richie's applications also wouldn't necessarily stop someone from using his voice to say different words. However, if successful, it could become an important test case for how trademark laws adapt to the AI era.
Previous AI Incidents
In 2023, an AI track that mimicked the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was streamed more than 250,000 times on Spotify before being taken down. Sony Music asked streaming platforms to remove more than 135,000 tracks in March created using generative AI to impersonate their artists.
The real Lionel Richie is playing an exclusive UK show at the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on Thursday, August 20.
