So it’s legal to hire someone who sounds like SJ. And likely legal to create a model that sounds like her. But there will likely need to be some disclaimer saying it’s not her voice.
I expect that OpenAI’s defense will be something like “We wanted SJ. She said no, so we made a voice that sounded like her but wasn’t her.” It will be interesting to see what happens.
What you recall also doesn't sound correct given right of publicity laws.
But I experience lots of ads with impersonators so maybe they just aren’t sued enough.
Also, Jack Nicholson never stopped Christian Slater from acting, so there must be some room for impersonation.