Mexico put two laws in force this year protecting dubbing and voice performers from AI, and within weeks its largest broadcaster confirmed it was already dubbing shows with the technology. Voice Over Herald sets out what the new rules cover and where TelevisaUnivision's use of cloned voices on its ViX service sits in relation to them.
The first is a reform of the federal labour and copyright laws, passed by the Chamber of Deputies on April 7 and in force since May 15. Performer contracts must now spell out the terms and payment for any use of image or voice, AI included; using someone's image or voice needs express consent that can be withdrawn for just cause; and cloning either requires a prior written agreement. Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel de Icaza had said at a February 2 government briefing that the proposal was drafted together with the dubbing community and the presidential legal office.
The second is a new federal film and audiovisual law replacing the 1992 statute, passed by the Chamber on April 7, approved by the Senate on April 15 by 87 votes to one, and in force since May 23. Its Article 29 says dubbing foreign works into any of Mexico's national languages must be done by human performers. The law also keeps the 10% screen quota for Mexican films and requires streaming services to give Mexican productions a permanent, visible section and to offer subtitled, dubbed and accessible versions. Aurora Mijangos, the actress and dubbing director who coordinated the campaign, welcomed the dubbing article as a step toward protecting the work.
In late July, Expansión reported that TelevisaUnivision is using ElevenLabs technology to dub telenovelas into Portuguese and Korean for export, with its chief executive saying the dubs can be made with the cast's own voices. That means cloned voices speaking languages the actors don't speak.
The human-dubbing rule does not obviously apply here, since it concerns dubbing into Mexico's languages rather than out of them, and, as Xataka México pointed out on July 31, the company has not said which titles are involved or how the work fits the new framework. The consent rules do reach it: each cast member's voice would need a written agreement stating terms and pay. Whether those contracts exist is not public, and the performers' groups that pushed for the law are watching for the first dispute to reach a court.
Voice Over Herald's point is that Mexico separates two questions that usually get blurred: who performs a dub, and who may reproduce a performer's voice and on what terms. Spain's actors are pressing the second through contract clauses, and US game performers won consent and disclosure through a union deal in 2025; Mexico has written both into national law.
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