AI video & audio

Video, voice and music generation tools — with licensing caveats

Tools

  • Video: Runway, Pika, Sora, Kling

    Text/image-to-video generation. Commercial rights on paid plans; check second limits and watermarks.

  • Avatars: HeyGen, Synthesia, D-ID

    Talking avatars for training/marketing. Lip-sync video translation is a strong case, but requires the person's consent to use their likeness.

  • Voice: ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, Play.ht

    Voiceover and voice cloning. Cloning someone's voice without consent directly violates likeness/voice rights.

  • Music: Suno, Udio, MusicGen

    Text-to-track generation. Legal status is murky — for ads/monetization check the plan (commercial rights usually on Pro tiers).

  • SFX: ElevenLabs SFX, Stable Audio

    Effects and ambient sound for video/games — the safest category for commercial use.

  • Price range

    Most services: free tier with watermark → $10–30/mo for commercial plans. API pricing per second/minute of generation.

Usage rules

  • 1.Never use a real person's likeness/voice without written consent — even 'as a joke'
  • 2.Public-figure deepfakes in ads lead straight to lawsuits; platforms block such content
  • 3.Label AI content where platforms require it (YouTube, TikTok, Meta)
  • 4.Keep prompts and versions — in a rights dispute they prove your creative input
  • 5.Suno/Udio music: free plan ≠ commercial rights, even if the track sounds clean

Media-model licenses change monthly — check the service's Terms of Service before commercial projects. For client work, state in the contract that content is AI-generated and which rights transfer.