The world of French dubbing is shaken by a case that illustrates all the fears linked to the growing use of artificial intelligence in the creative industries. Françoise Cadol, renowned actress and historic French voice of Lara Croft, announced that she puts aspyr Media, the publisher behind the compilation Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered. Indeed, the company would have cloned its voice by IA without its agreement, in an update deployed in mid-August.
A brutal discovery thanks to fans
It all starts on August 14, with the release of the update of this compilation of cult games. Fans quickly arrest Françoise Cadol on social networks. New aftershocks appear in the game, even though the actress has not recorded anything. Worse still, she had already publicly expressed her refusal to allow the use of her voice for algorithmic training purposes. The actress then noted the facts by bailiff, before announcing her will to seize justice.
For the actress, this cloning is not only a violation of her rights, but a direct attack on her artistic identity. She recalls that her voice is His main work toola component of his personality protected by French and European law. In a press release, she thanks her community: “I thank my fans, true voice guards.”
A hot context for video games and AI
This case occurs in an already tense climate. Last summer, the American union SAG-AFTRA led long negotiations around the use of artificial intelligence in the video game sector, after several months of strike threats. The agreement found now imposes a stricter framework on American studios, in particular on the obligation to obtain the explicit consent of artists for any vocal reproduction. The Cadol affair shows that this type of drift is not theoretical, it is exactly the scenario that the actors fear.
According to his lawyer, the case is clear: Aspyr Media has despised European law. The voice is considered to be an attribute of the personality by article 9 of the Civil Code, and the GDPR qualifies it as sensitive biometric data. In addition, the ACT ACT, recently adopted in Europe, requires publishers to mention any use of this type algorithms. For the lawyers of the actress, the case is all the more serious as it concerns an assumed commercial exploitation, in a world famous license.
A symbolic fight for the future of dubbing
Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock and Patricia Arquette, but also heroines of licenses like Resident Evil, Assassin’s Creed or OverwatchFrançoise Cadol is a figure in French dubbing. Active activist of the association The voices And the movement “Touche not to my VF”, she intends to make this fight an example. It requires the withdrawal of the incriminated update and especially hopes to alert on the danger of a “wild recovery” of the voice of the actors.
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