Tokyo court says AI voice cloning violates actors’ publicity rights
Ruling in Kenjiro Tsuda’s case sets an early legal boundary for AI voice use in Japan.
A Tokyo court has ruled that using an actor’s voice without permission, including via AI cloning, violates the actor’s publicity rights, in what is reported as Japan’s first such case. The case was brought by anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, who argued that an anonymous TikTok account used an AI model to mimic his distinctive baritone in videos posted between July 2024 and late 2023. Although the judge agreed his voice is legally protected, Tsuda’s request to compel TikTok to remove the specific videos was rejected because the account and its content had already been deleted. Court records show TikTok argued the narrator was only a “generic male voice,” while Tsuda’s side said the account drew over 200,000 followers by pairing sensational content with a voice resembling a well‑known star. The ruling lands amid a broader tension in Japan’s pro‑AI policy stance, highlighted by recent government pressure on OpenAI not to train Sora 2 on anime and manga in ways that would breach copyright.
Why it matters
The decision puts human voices alongside names and likenesses as assets performers can assert legal control over, marking a clear limit on how AI voice models can be used without consent in Japan. Even though the offending TikTok account vanished before the court could order takedowns, the ruling gives actors and other public figures a concrete basis to challenge unauthorized AI voice clones, and adds a legal counterweight to Japan’s otherwise supportive stance toward AI tools.
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Sources
- Engadget