Advertising or endorsement

Status DraftedOpened May 31, 2026id: sample-voice-actor-ad

Intake

What happened: I am a working voice actor. A regional supplement brand called VitalRoot ran an online ad that uses an AI clone of my voice to narrate it. I never licensed my voice to them and never recorded for them.
Incident type: Advertising or endorsement
What was cloned: Voice
Hosted at: https://vitalroot-ads.test/spring-promo
Platform: YouTube
Found on: May 29, 2026
Identifiable: Yes
Prior consent: No consent
Jurisdiction: California (covered)

Triage

This is a core right-of-publicity matter. A commercial advertiser used a cloned voice without consent, which California Civil Code Section 3344 addresses. The host platform also has a reporting channel. No copyrighted work appears to be copied, so DMCA does not apply.

State right of publicity

High confidence

California right of publicity (statutory)

A brand made a knowing commercial use of an AI clone of the claimant's voice to advertise a product, without consent. Section 3344 covers voice, and SB 683 extends it to digital replicas, so the elements appear to line up.

Elements that must be met

01The defendant knowingly used the claimant's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness (including a digital replica).
02The use was for advertising, selling, or soliciting the purchase of products, goods, or services.
03There was a direct connection between the use and the commercial purpose.
04The use was without the claimant's prior consent.
05The claimant was injured as a result.

Source trace

Cal. Civ. Code § 3344 · § 3344(a) (knowing commercial use of name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness); 'voice' and 'likeness' extended to digital replicas by SB 683

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=3344.

Section 3344 covers living persons; deceased persons fall under § 3344.1. Confirm the effective date of the SB 683 amendments for your facts. Verify current law.

Platform Terms of Service

High confidence

YouTube reporting channel

The ad is hosted on YouTube, which is clearly identified and has a reporting lane for unauthorized use of a person's likeness or voice.

Reporting channel

YouTube privacy / impersonation complaint. File under the privacy complaint process for use of your likeness or voice.

Source trace

YouTube · Platform Terms of Service

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/142443

Confirm the current YouTube reporting lane before filing.

These are the instruments that may apply. The next step drafts the notice tuned to one of them. Deepfake Recourse drafts; a human files. Nothing is sent from here.

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6. Not legal advice. Verify current law.

Assembly

Preserved evidence package

URL where the replica is hostedadded 5/31/2026, 3:00:00 PM
https://vitalroot-ads.test/spring-promo
sha256: 564495d0a54f4954f0f8bec9…
Host platformadded 5/31/2026, 3:00:00 PM
YouTube
sha256: fb7accfff8c6f8ea9b03c91e…
Account of what happenedadded 5/31/2026, 3:00:00 PM
I am a working voice actor. A regional supplement brand called VitalRoot ran an online ad that uses an AI clone of my voice to narrate it. I never licensed my voice to them and never recorded for them.
sha256: a6de2a2b8244a6e50a5645f5…
Date the replica was foundadded 5/31/2026, 3:00:00 PM
2026-05-29
sha256: 0d4d1b402e1b60a79949c67c…

Each item carries the time it was added and a SHA-256 fingerprint of its content. This detects naive edits to the recorded material. It is not a tamper-proof seal.

Draft · State right-of-publicity demand

Draft only

Cease and Desist: Unauthorized Use of AI-Cloned Voice in Advertising (Cal. Civ. Code § 3344)

Directed to: [Registered agent or legal department, VitalRoot]

Draft text · editable

[Your full legal name]
[Your address]
[Your email] | [Your phone]

[Date]

VIA [CERTIFIED MAIL / EMAIL]

[Recipient name or registered agent]
VitalRoot
[Recipient address]

Re: Unauthorized commercial use of my voice in violation of California Civil Code Section 3344

To whom it may concern:

I am a professional voice actor. It has come to my attention that VitalRoot is running an advertisement that uses an artificial-intelligence-generated clone of my voice. The advertisement is hosted at https://vitalroot-ads.test/spring-promo. I never licensed my voice to VitalRoot and never consented to this use.

California Civil Code Section 3344 prohibits the knowing use of another person's voice for advertising or selling without that person's prior consent. As amended, the statute reaches digital replicas of a voice. Your use meets these conditions.

I demand that VitalRoot immediately stop using my voice and the cloned recording in any advertisement, remove the material identified above, and confirm in writing within ten business days that it has done so.

This letter is not a complete statement of my rights or claims, and nothing in it waives any of them.

[Your signature]
[Your full legal name]

This is a draft. Deepfake Recourse does not address or send it. You review, edit, and file it yourself. Not legal advice. Verify current law.