The citizen's voice as an object of private law protection: physical, social, and legal prerequisites

Relevance . The rapid development of speech synthesis and deepfake technologies has turned an individual's voice into a vulnerable object of law that requires special civil law protection. The current Russian legislation does not contain a legal definition of voice, and doctrinal research is fragmentary, which creates legal uncertainty in lawmaking and law enforcement practice. Purpose . To establish the content of the concept of a individual's voice as an independent intangible benefit based on its differentiation from the external objectified form of voice expression. Objective . To identify the physical, social, and legal characteristics of voice that justify its legal protection. To substantiate the need to differentiate between voice as an intangible benefit and its objectified forms. Methodology . The following methods were employed: formal-legal, comparative-legal, systemic-structural approaches, legal modeling, as well as analysis, synthesis, and deduction techniques. An auxiliary technological tool utilized in the process is the Consensus.app platform, grounded in natural language processing and machine learning algorithms. Results . An author's definition of an individual's voice is proposed: an independent intangible benefit inseparably linked to the person, formed on an innate basis in the process of socialization, possessing physiological uniqueness and measurability, and performing the functions of self-presentation, personal autonomy, and social responsibility. The concept of the objectified form of voice is introduced and elaborated. It is shown that the mechanical application of Article 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation to voice is erroneous. The principle of priority of personal non-property rights to voice over contractual conditions for the use of the objectified form is proposed. Conclusion . The proposed definition of voice and its differentiation from objectified forms create a theoretical foundation for an independent regime of civil law protection of voice in the digital environment, making it possible to qualify violations and fill legislative gaps.