Tokyo Court Rules Human Voice Protected Under Publicity Rights in Landmark AI Case
A Tokyo district court has established a legal precedent in Japan by recognizing the human voice as a protected asset under publicity rights. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against TikTok, concerning an anonymous account that used AI to clone his distinctive baritone for over 180 videos. While the court dismissed the specific demand for video deletion because the account had already been closed, it affirmed that unauthorized commercial use of a voice constitutes an infringement of individual rights. This decision offers significant legal protection for anime voice actors facing the rise of AI-generated voice clones on social media platforms.