News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:David Attenborough is now narrating my life by pavon on Wednesday November 15, 2023 @03:13PM (#38281787)
In that case though (and the Bette Milder precedent), the sound-a-like was used with a song that the artist was associated with, which implied that it was the actual artist, or at least deliberately invoked their likeness in mind of the viewer.

I'm skeptical that using a narrator that happened to sound like David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman would be enough by itself to qualify for right of publicity unless it included obvious references to prior work, catch phases, or the like.

Re:David Attenborough is now narrating my life by notahacker on Wednesday November 15, 2023 @04:56PM (#38283133)
Difficult to find a Morgan Freeman sound-a-like if they're not marketing themselves as a Morgan Freeman sound-a-like. And if they are (and obtaining more customers as a result), it's easier to pay Morgan Freeman royalties than come up with persuasive arguments that selling 'voiceovers that sound like Morgan Freeman' isn't profiting from deliberately invoking his likeness...
Re:David Attenborough is now narrating my life by amelius on Wednesday November 15, 2023 @05:39PM (#38283616)
> Difficult to find a Morgan Freeman sound-a-like if they're not marketing themselves as a Morgan Freeman sound-a-like.

How about this scenario: they publish a youtube video, then someone says in the comments: hey you sound just like morgan freeman, then the company looking for the voice performance googles for morgan freeman, finds the comment and contacts them.

Re:David Attenborough is now narrating my life by bryanrasmussen on Wednesday November 15, 2023 @05:53PM (#38283718)
So then in court the google for Morgan Freeman and the comment you sound like Morgan Freeman come out and then you owe Morgan Freeman $$$$$$$$$ because he had to go to court over it.
Re:David Attenborough is now narrating my life by notahacker on Thursday November 16, 2023 @08:57AM (#38289549)
Think if I wanted to earn a living as a voiceover artist who happened to sound like a very famous actor I'd rather advertise my USP and pay royalties on the much higher earnings than only pick up business from companies that make hiring decisions based on random chance or YouTube comments ...