Artificial Intelligence Voice Cloning and Civil Liability Under Indonesian Copyright Law

Abstract

This article examines the legal protection of performers’ rights against artificial intelligence voice cloning under Indonesian law. The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies capable of replicating human voices has created significant legal challenges, particularly regarding the unauthorized imitation and commercial exploitation of performers’ vocal identity. While Indonesian Copyright Law recognizes performers’ related rights, it does not expressly regulate synthetic voice replication. This research aims to analyze: (1) how Indonesian Copyright Law regulates the protection of performers’ rights in relation to artificial intelligence voice cloning; (2) whether such practices fulfill the elements of an unlawful act under Article 1365 of the Indonesian Civil Code; and (3) how civil liability should be constructed within the Indonesian legal framework.

This study employs a normative juridical method using statutory, conceptual, and case-based approaches, supported by secondary legal materials and relevant comparative scholarship. The findings demonstrate that existing copyright provisions provide limited protection, particularly when voice cloning does not involve direct reproduction of a fixed performance. However, artificial intelligence voice cloning may satisfy the elements of an unlawful act where unlawfulness, fault, damage, and causation are established. Civil liability should therefore be constructed through an integrated approach combining related rights protection and general tort principles. The article recommends legislative clarification to explicitly regulate artificial intelligence-generated voice replication in order to ensure legal certainty and balanced protection between technological innovation and performers’ rights.