For the past 14 years, Spokane residents have learned about upcoming sales and promotions at locally owned Fred’s Appliance through the voice and smile of Amber George.
But in February, George noticed on social media that Fred’s and production company Victory Media had created a President’s Day ad that featured her, naturally.
“Wait a minute, I didn’t take this picture,” George said this week, recalling his reaction when he saw the scene. “They were using footage from the past and snippets from various commercials. They replicated my voice.
“I was really shocked,” she continued. “I trusted them.”
After she raised her concerns, Victory Media and Fred’s offered her an addendum to the contract that would allow her to use artificial intelligence to create more ads.
In response, George ended his job at Fred’s Appliances, contacted Spokane attorney Bob Dunn, and filed a lawsuit in Spokane Superior Court on Tuesday.
“Defendants engaged in the unlawful commercial exploitation of exclusive property rights in Ms. George’s past work by placing the work in new or significantly modified ads, using it in various media, using still images to create video footage, and using behind-the-scenes content to promote their business…all without her permission or compensation to her,” Dunn wrote.
She alleged fraud and damages because her commercial value as a spokesperson and personality is tied to controlled ownership over the use of her voice, likeness, image and performance, the complaint says.
Dunn wrote that using AI to alter or reuse old footage without her participation or permission violates her right to control how she is represented publicly.
The complaint names Fred’s Appliance, which was founded in 1962 and currently has stores in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene, Kennewick and four locations in Montana, as well as Liberty Lake-based Victory Media and Dane Kuhlman, CEO of Victory Media.
Victory Media and Fred’s Appliance are both represented by attorney Crystal Lamb, who said in a statement Wednesday that the companies are limited in what they can say.
“Victory Media has always operated with integrity and strived to do the right thing for our clients, partners and the people we work with,” Lam’s statement said. “We acknowledge that we have used AI-assisted audio editing to make a limited number of updates to existing advertising, primarily including changes to pricing and promotions.
“We believed these uses were permitted under our agreement with our public relations representative and were consistent with our contractual rights,” the statement continued. “When questions arose regarding these edits, we made no effort to hide them. We proactively published our AI-powered audio edits, provided a list of known cases, and immediately entered into discussions with former spokespeople.”
Victory Media and Fred Appliances offered George compensation, but George did not respond, the statement said.
“We strongly disagree with any claims that suggest our former spokesperson was digitally recreated or visually manipulated through AI,” the statement read. “Victory Media did not create or publish any AI-generated images or likenesses of her, and we intend to vigorously defend against these claims through legal proceedings.”
In a statement, the companies thanked Mr. George for his years of work and said, “We are disappointed that this dispute could not be resolved without litigation. We believe the facts will prove that Victory Media acted in good faith throughout this process.”
Lam issued a statement late Wednesday suggesting the parties may be close to resolving the matter in court.
“This issue involves different interpretations of the press secretary agreement,” Lam wrote. “We remain hopeful that the parties will reach a fair solution through continued discussions.”
fred’s face
George, 43, is from Spokane and attended Shadle Park High School and Eastern Washington University. She performed with Freds in 2012.
“It was great. It was a great working relationship,” George said this week. “It was a great experience.”
She initially worked with a production company called 7Storms to create commercials used by Fred’s Appliance to promote their products.
Then, a few years ago, Victory Media took over the role. As part of their new relationship, George signed a contract covering her scope of work.
The agreement states, “The creative assets generated as a result of the project shall become the sole and exclusive property of the Company and Victory Media Promotional Content.”
“We and Victory Media shall have the right to use, distribute, and display these creative assets for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation.”
Shortly after working at Victory Media, George said he started seeing pictures of himself in advertisements he wasn’t a part of.
Then, unbeknownst to George, she saw her face reflected on the billboard.
“This doesn’t feel right,” George said when he saw her photo in the big ad. “They could have easily paid me for it, but I had worked at Fred’s so long that I didn’t want to be the one complaining.”
A President’s Day sale spot was then aired based on historical footage and a computer-generated voice that imitated George.
“They never once told me what they were doing or asked for my consent,” she said.
Ms. George then contacted Ms. Kuhlman to point out that they had used AI to create the ad without her involvement, and that she believed that was a breach of contract.
“They contacted me a month later and offered me an addendum to the contract,” she said. “It was a ridiculous addendum. They wanted to use AI, but they paid me very little to use it.
“It also showed that they did not have permission to do this.”
This situation prompted George to contact a lawyer and end his relationship with Fred.
In addition to producing promotions for Fred’s Appliances, George spent 11 years fundraising for children with cancer for the Rypien Foundation.
George stepped down from that role to focus on raising their two children, she said.
She is currently working on a video promoting products sold on Amazon and admits to being a big fan of the possibilities of AI.
“AI is amazing. I personally use it. I even had it change the design of my bedroom,” George said. “But in this case, it was grossly exploited.
“We need more transparency,” she continued. “Companies need to have consent and clear policies and be transparent about how they use it.”
She said that once integrity is lost, it cannot be regained.
“As a performer and actor, it’s important to have an authentic voice,” she said. “When they use AI, it diminishes my value as a spokesperson. They can’t monitor or stop the words that come out of my mouth.
“It’s scary,” she added. “I don’t know what’s real or fake.”
