4 ms·

no, that's definitely not illegal. Voices are not trademarkable, only jingles (melody, words + tone), and of course specific recordings of voices are copyright

no, that's definitely not illegal. Voices are not trademarkable, only jingles (melody, words + tone), and of course specific recordings of voices are copyrighted. The ONLY way they get in trouble is if they claim to be Morgan Freeman.

zerocrates 2y ago
"Trademark" is not the correct way to talk about it, but commercial use of an impersonation can be a breach of the right of publicity, even if they don't actually say they're the person.
thehappypm 2y ago
A reasonable person would assume that the voice in the commercial is Morgan Freeman, which could be very problematic for the commercial maker.
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
  How do commerical Elvis impersonators (or commercial Elvis impersonators in commercials) get away with it?
  - thehappypm 2y ago
    Because no reasonable person thinks it’s actually Elvis.
fakedang 2y ago
Voices may not be trademarkable but I'm pretty sure styles and intonations are.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dragonwriter 2y ago
> Voices are not trademarkable But they are subject to right of publicity in many US jurisdictions. Which, while more like trademark than copyright (the other thing that keeps getting raised as if it should dispose of this issue), is its own area of law, distinct from either trademark or copyright. > The ONLY way they get in trouble is if they claim to be Morgan Freeman. That’s…not true. Though such an explicit claim would definitely be a way that they could get in trouble.
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
  > In the United States, no federal statute or case law recognizes the right of publicity, although federal unfair competition law recognizes a related statutory right to protection against false endorsement, association, or affiliation https://www.inta.org/topics/right-of-publicity/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20no,endorsement%2C%20association%2C%20or%20affiliation https://www.inta.org/topics/right-of-publicity/#:~:text=In%2....
  - dragonwriter 2y ago
    The important word in that quote is “federal”. In the US, right of publicity is a state law right in many states (often of particular note because of the concentration of tech and entertainment industries, it is a state law right in California.)

zerocrates 2y ago

"Trademark" is not the correct way to talk about it, but commercial use of an impersonation can be a breach of the right of publicity, even if they don't actually say they're the person.

thehappypm 2y ago

A reasonable person would assume that the voice in the commercial is Morgan Freeman, which could be very problematic for the commercial maker.

throwawaymaths 2y ago
How do commerical Elvis impersonators (or commercial Elvis impersonators in commercials) get away with it?
- thehappypm 2y ago
  Because no reasonable person thinks it’s actually Elvis.

fakedang 2y ago

Voices may not be trademarkable but I'm pretty sure styles and intonations are.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

dragonwriter 2y ago

> Voices are not trademarkable But they are subject to right of publicity in many US jurisdictions. Which, while more like trademark than copyright (the other thing that keeps getting raised as if it should dispose of this issue), is its own area of law, distinct from either trademark or copyright. > The ONLY way they get in trouble is if they claim to be Morgan Freeman. That’s…not true. Though such an explicit claim would definitely be a way that they could get in trouble.

throwawaymaths 2y ago
> In the United States, no federal statute or case law recognizes the right of publicity, although federal unfair competition law recognizes a related statutory right to protection against false endorsement, association, or affiliation https://www.inta.org/topics/right-of-publicity/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20no,endorsement%2C%20association%2C%20or%20affiliation https://www.inta.org/topics/right-of-publicity/#:~:text=In%2....
- dragonwriter 2y ago
  The important word in that quote is “federal”. In the US, right of publicity is a state law right in many states (often of particular note because of the concentration of tech and entertainment industries, it is a state law right in California.)