The Hollywood Actors Guild filed accusations of unfair labor practices against the Epic Games on Monday, claiming that they replaced the actor’s work by using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader’s voice without notice.
The Guild of Screen Actors, the Federation of American Television and Radio Artists, said Rama Productions, a subsidiary of the gaming giant, “failed and refused to negotiate in good faith with the union” over the past six months. The company has made unilateral changes to its terms of employment “without providing notification or negotiation opportunities to the union,” by using AI-generated voices to replace negotiating unitwork, SAG-AFTRA said. Epic Games did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
SAG-AFTRA has unlocked concerns about the union’s use of unregulated artificial intelligence after more than a year of negotiations on interactive media contracts. The strike is underway.
In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said the union supports the rights of members and their property to control the use of digital replicas.
“But we need to protect our rights to adhere to terms of contract terms surrounding voice terms that will replace members’ work, including those who have previously done work that matches Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games,” the union said.
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Epic is facing the rage of the actors’ union while also engaged in another major legal battle. Late last week, Fortnite was no longer available on iPhones and iPads around the world after Apple refused to resubmit the game to the App Store. The game was unavailable as the two fought a long lawsuit. In the lawsuit, Epic won a big victory last month, allowing in-app purchases without using Apple’s systems.
