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Do I have rights
Burleson, TX
Viewed 14 times.
Posted about 1 month ago in Lawsuits / Disputes
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Company used my voice for their automated answering for the co. AND for thier National Hotels Voice Security System. Recently I was laid off from the company after 19 years of service. Do I have legal rights for reimbursment for the past, present, and future use of my voice for these services? I signed no papers for authorization -- I felt it an honor to be selected. Please suggest to me what my legal rights in this matter are.
Answers (2)L. Maxwell Taylor
This attorney is licensed in California and 1 other state.
Posted about 1 month ago.
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Probably the recordings of your voice are the company's business property. It's hard to characterize them as an "original work of authorship" -- it's ordinary voicemail stuff, right? So I don't see a way through copyright/ licensing law to require them to stop.
You could try writing them a letter, or hiring a lawyer to write them a letter, stating that you no longer work there and the continued use of your voice falsely implies that you still work there; I can't tell you it will work, but you could try. I suspect you have no legal right in these recordings and that you cannot therefore require the company to stop using them. I don't hold Texas licensure so don't take that as legal advice, just as my two cents based on my analysis of what you say in light of general principles of law. If you need legal advice, please consult a lawyer who holds Texas licensure. Good luck. Andrew Daniel Myers
This attorney is licensed in Massachusetts and 1 other state.
Posted about 1 month ago.
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To the extent that there are "rights" to such a voice recording, the rights would be owned by the company. This was specifically intended for commercial use only, just for that company, and they recorded it for that limited purpose. If there were entertainment value you arguably could assert a right to reimbursement. But, you and I both know that if you assert this or any other right personal to you now, they will likely just pull the recordings, re record them and say that you were reimbursed in full through any and all financial compensation that you received during your years of employment.
I've got to believe that if this is a company of any size and status that they had to have had the corporate brains to have slipped an authorization in front of you for your signature before you did the recordings and that you forgot it and it is in a file somewhere. If they didn't have an in house lawyer somewhere earning his keep and insisting that they do this, then they deserve the following: write them a demand letter claiming that they have misappropriated your personal voice for their commercial, profitable gain. Get a lawyer to do it on their firm letterhead. Send it certified mail. The company might cough up a few bucks. But, don't be surprised if its smal change or nothing at all. Hopefully they aren't as smart as you and don't read AVVO. This answer is provided for informational purposes only. True legal advice can only be provided in an office consultation by an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction and with experience in the area of law in which your concern lies. |