AI audio agency ElevenLabs has set agreements with the estates of Judy Garland, James Dean and different legends to make use of their voices to learn books, articles, PDFs and different textual content materials to cellular customers of its new Reader App.
ElevenLabs envisions customers tapping Garland’s legendary pipes to learn the unique L. Frank Baum novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” or Laurence Olivier to ship a Sherlock Holmes story, along with a spread of different works. ElevenLabs emphasizes that it has struck license agreements for licensed use of the legendary voices as a part of the “Iconic Voices” function of its app.
The Reader App is designed adapt “articles, PDF, ePub, newsletters, e-books or any other text on your phone” to turn out to be “emotionally rich, context aware voiceover” for listening on the go, in accordance with ElevenLabs.
The agreements specify that the voices of Garland, Dean, Reynolds and Olivier can solely be used by way of ElevenLabs for pre-determined functions. Those voices won’t be integrated into ElevenLabs’ broader audio database used for the AI-generated creation of latest works. “The audio generated with these voices are designed to be enjoyed for individual streaming use, rather than to create content designed to be shared,” ElevenLabs acknowledged.
ElevenLabs reached the pathbreaking license deal masking the 4 late stars with CMG Worldwide, a Beverly Hills-based IP administration agency that makes a speciality of representing the rights of celebrities and superstar estates. Liza Minnelli, a daughter of Garland and a rep for her mom’s property, endorsed the deal in an announcement. More than 50 years after her loss of life at age 47, Garland’s voice stays immediately recognizable due to her timeless films — from “The Wizard of Oz” to “A Star is Born” — and music.
“It’s exciting to see our mother’s voice available to the countless millions of people who love her. Through the spectacular new technology offered by ElevenLabs, our family believes that this will bring new fans to Mama, and be exciting to those who already cherish the unparalleled legacy
that Mama gave and continues to give to the world,” Minnelli stated.
Tina Xavie, chief advertising and marketing workplace for CMG Worldwide, hailed the deal for example of a certified settlement with applicable compensation for the worth of a star’s voice.
“As someone who has had the privilege of representing iconic figures throughout history for decades, I am incredibly excited about our partnership with ElevenLabs. We appreciate their thoughtful approach in working with talent in the right way,” Xavie stated. “We are excited by the new opportunities they are providing our clients and look forward to more to come.”
The announcement comes as SAG-AFTRA is pushing the California legislature to forbid AI replicas of deceased actors if finished with out the property’s permission. The union-backed invoice, AB 1836, handed the Assembly, 59-0, in May, and is now the state Senate. The Motion Picture Association has opposed the invoice, warning that it might encroach on First Amendment rights.
ElevenLabs, which launched its beta platform in early 2023, creates AI audio instruments in 29 languages to facilitate the straightforward creation of audiobooks and information articles, to animate online game characters, to help in pre-production of movie and TV and to translate films and TV reveals into native languages.
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It additionally has functions for creating audio content material for social media and promoting and for academic coaching. The firm stated extra such voices are coming to its Iconic Voices service.
“Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier are some of the most celebrated actors in history. We deeply respect their legacy and are honored to have their voices as part of our platform,” stated Dustin Blank, Head of Partnerships at ElevenLabs. “Adding them to our growing list of narrators marks a major step forward in our mission of making content accessible in any language and voice.”
(Gene Maddaus contributed to this report.)
(Pictured: Judy Garland, James Dean and Laurence Olivier)
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