If AI voices are problematic, then wouldn't that apply to splicing too?

[InDarkestNight]

Seeing the debate over using deep learning programs to replicate voices, this got me thinking: wouldn't splicing voicelines also potentially be a violation of the voice actor's copyright?

 

Personally, I've always preferred splicing over VA. I just can't stand the robotic sound. Yeah, splicing isn't perfect, but its better than VASynth to me. I never really thought much of that until now.

 

Is splicing really fundamentally different from what a voice synthesizer does? You're still using samples of someone's voice to produce the sounds. The only real difference between the two is that splicing is done by hand, while synthesizing has a computer do it for you.

 

I'm not wanting to start a debate over rules, this is more philosophical musing really. If synthesized voices aren't okay, then why would splicing be? I mean, I have seen splicing work that is awfully convincing, particularly lately. Couldn't this cause the same harm as replicating someone's voice? Yeah, its a re-use of vanilla assets. However, some splicing involves isolating out phonemes and constructing new words using that. To me, that sorta crosses the line from re-use to outright making something new. You literally couldn't separate human speech down further than the individual phonemes. Its like making an entirely new model from scratch. Of course, most of the time mod authors are just slicing words together; they don't normally go that deep unless a specific voice just doesn't have too many words to work with.

 

If voice synthesizers are disallowed (at least without the original voice actor's permission), then why shouldn't splicing be? Is there really a fundamental difference between the two that makes splicing okay but synthesizing not? Like I said, the only real fundamental difference is splicing accomplishes the same thing as synthesizing but its done by hand.

 

Of course, I realize banning splicing would be hugely detrimental to the modding community. Can you imagine how many mods would be removed if splicing was banned? I mean, Jayserpa, one of the biggest modders these days, has been doing splicing A LOT to expand on the vanilla voice lines. Even RDO uses spliced lines, and that's a super old mod that quite a few follower mods REQUIRE. If that was disallowed, possibly hundreds of followers would be rendered unusable. Point is, I hope splicing doesn't get banned. At the same time though, I have a hard time justifying it when synthesizing crosses a moral boundary.

[showler]

Splicing is too much work to cause a real problem for voice actors. Therefore it has gotten a pass since no one really objects to it. AI makes it too easy.

[Lollia]

Splicing is too much work to cause a real problem for voice actors. Therefore it has gotten a pass since no one really objects to it. AI makes it too easy.

Too true. I've already had to correct one overly excited AI-user for having the wrong voice actor listed. Hundreds of lines generated, and they can't tell whose voice they're actually working with! :rolleyes:

 

I thought it was common knowledge that you're not supposed to take things (like credit listings on sites with free editing permissions) at face value. Show some curiosity, do some actual research, and above all, USE YOUR EARS! (Disclaimer: I am a dialogue splicer, and I take what I do very seriously.)

Edited April 28, 2023 by Lollia