RE: copyrights regarding human to human voice
As of late 2025, there are few comprehensive laws in place that use traditional copyright to protect human voice, though this is changing with the rise of AI-generated content.
In most countries, a voice itself is not considered copyrightable because it is not a “fixed” work of authorship.
Instead, legal frameworks are evolving through existing laws like the right of publicity, with some jurisdictions enacting new legislation specifically aimed at preventing deepfakes and unauthorized voice replication.
Countries with evolving voice protection laws
Denmark
- Proposed legislation (2025): Denmark is pioneering new legal protections by proposing to amend its copyright law to give citizens explicit copyright ownership over their own faces, voices, and likenesses.
- Purpose: The law is a direct response to AI-generated “deepfakes” and would allow individuals to demand the removal of non-consensual imitations of their voice and likeness.
- Impact: If passed, this would be one of the first laws in Europe to recognize a person’s digital identity as intellectual property.
United States
- Existing protections (state level): Protection for voice is primarily handled through state-based “right of publicity” laws, which prevent the unauthorized commercial use of a person’s identity.
- Tennessee’s ELVIS Act (2024): This law explicitly protects an individual’s voice and likeness from being replicated by AI. It provides civil and criminal penalties for unauthorized use and also extends protections to recording artists.
- Proposed federal protections: Bills like the “No AI FRAUD Act” have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to establish baseline federal protection for voice and likeness against unauthorized AI simulations.
European Union
- AI Act: The EU’s AI Act contains provisions that acknowledge the use of copyrighted content in training AI models. It requires “general purpose AI” models to track the content used for data training and mandates obtaining authorization from rights holders.
- GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) offers some protection by treating identifiable voice data as personal data. This gives individuals legal rights over how their voice is collected and processed by organizations.
Canada
- No explicit copyright protection: Similar to the U.S., Canada’s Copyright Act does not grant copyright protection to a voice itself. It only protects a sound recording of a voice that is fixed in a tangible medium.
- Rights of performers: The Canadian Copyright Act does provide performers with specific rights concerning the fixation and commercial use of their performances.
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