What happened
Matti Klemm, a German dubbing actor and member of the Verband Deutscher Sprecher:innen (VDS), will sue Netflix, the VDS announced in Cologne on 3 November 2026. The Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) is supporting the case and says it plans to file by the end of 2026.
According to the VDS, Netflix's reply to a data access request showed that his voice recordings had been used to train AI systems without his knowledge or consent. The claims rest on personality rights, copyright and data protection. Spirit Legal represents him. The GFF says it will seek information, an order to stop the training use and a ruling that he is owed damages.
Why it matters
For actors and voice artists across Europe, the case tests whether rights granted for a dubbing job extend to AI training. Netflix asks German dubbing performers to sign an Assignment of Rights agreement. VDS chair Anna-Sophia Lumpe says it includes consent to AI training, while Klemm questions whether that consent covers training at all. He argues consent is hardly voluntary when signing is a condition of getting work.
Still open
As of 12 November, the latest VDS statement, of 3 November, says the suit is still to be filed. Neither the VDS nor the GFF reports a public statement from Netflix, or an outcome of the VDS complaint to the Bundeskartellamt from late August and the data protection complaints to the Berlin commissioner from early September.