Case law says no.

There have been several legal cases where bands have sued advertisers for copying their distinct sound. Here are a few examples:

The Beatles vs. Nike (1987): The Beatles' company, Apple Corps, sued Nike and Capitol Records for using the song "Revolution" in a commercial without their permission. The case was settled out of court.

Tom Waits vs. Frito-Lay (1988): Tom Waits sued Frito-Lay for using a sound-alike in a commercial for their Doritos chips. Waits won the case, emphasizing the protection of his distinct voice and style.

Bette Midler vs. Ford Motor Company (1988): Although not a band, Bette Midler successfully sued Ford for using a sound-alike to imitate her voice in a commercial. The court ruled in her favor, recognizing the uniqueness of her voice.

The Black Keys vs. Pizza Hut and Home Depot (2012): The Black Keys sued both companies for using music in their advertisements that sounded remarkably similar to their songs. The cases were settled out of court.

Beastie Boys vs. Monster Energy (2014): The Beastie Boys sued Monster Energy for using their music in a promotional video without permission. The court awarded the band $1.7 million in damages.

> I wouldn't necessarily call that damning. "Soundalikes" are very common in the ad industry.

As are disclaimers that celebrity voices are impersonated when there is additional context which makes it likely that the voice would be considered something other than a mere soundalike, like direct reference to a work in which the impersonated celebrity was involved as part of the same publicity campaign.

And liability for commercial voice appropriation, even by impersonation, is established law in some jurisdictions, including California.

Sorry, that's apples-to-pizzas comparison. You're conflating work and identity.

There's an ocean of difference between mimicking the style of someone's art in an original work, and literally cloning someone's likeness for marketing/business reasons.

You can hire someone to make art in the style of Taylor Swift, that's OK.

You can't start selling Taylor Swift figurines by the same principle.

What Sam Altman did, figuratively, was giving out free T-Shirts featuring a face that is recognized as Taylor Swift by anyone who knows her.

The damning part is that they tried to contact her and get her to reconsider their offer only 2 days before the model was demoed. That tells you that at the very least they either felt a moral or legal obligation to get her to agree with their release of the model.