Voice ethics
How we handle ancestors' voices.
Voice cloning is powerful and easy to misuse. Roots We Planted's policy is built so the default is safe, the opt-in is clear, and every use is reversible.
Our policy in one paragraph
We default to a curated narrator voice library. Voice cloning of a specific person is opt-in only, requires a recording you own (or have the right to use), and requires you to attest both to ownership and to your understanding that the voice will be used to generate first-person narration as if spoken by the depicted ancestor. Every cloned voice is labeled in the final book and the digital archive. Consent is reversible.
The exact consent language.
When you choose to clone a voice in the animation tool, you check two boxes. Their text is reproduced here verbatim:
“I attest that I own this recording or have the legal right to use it, and I understand this voice will be used to generate first-person narration as if spoken by the depicted ancestor.”
“I understand all cloned-voice content will be clearly labeled in the final deliverables.”
Both boxes must be checked and a recording must be uploaded before the clone option is enabled in the animation tool.
Voice ethics FAQ
- Only if you opt to clone his real voice and provide a recording you own or have the right to use. Otherwise we use a curated narrator voice from our library — chosen to fit his era, personality, and the tone of your book. Most families find the curated narrator approach beautifully sufficient.
- No. The narrator voice library is our default and works for any ancestor — including ones with no surviving audio. Voice cloning is strictly optional.
- Every animated portrait that uses a cloned voice is disclosed in three places: in the printed book (a small line of text beside the QR code), in the digital archive (an info panel on the player), and in your project records. You always know which portraits used a cloned voice.
- Yes — at any time. We delete the voice model from our systems, replace the affected narration with a narrator-voice version at no cost, and re-issue the digital archive entries. You can also request that we delete any uploaded source recordings.
- Only someone with the legal right to use the recording. In practice this usually means a direct family member acting on behalf of the depicted ancestor's estate, or — if the depicted person is still living — the person themselves. We don't accept third-party recordings whose provenance we can't verify.
- Tell us. We pause production immediately, walk through the question with you, and either secure proper consent or switch to a narrator voice. We'd rather slow down than misuse a voice.
Questions about voice cloning for your project?
A real person will walk through the policy with you before any decisions are made.