Tokyo Court Rules AI Voice Cloning Violates Publicity Rights

A Tokyo district court has issued a landmark ruling declaring that human voices are protected under publicity rights, marking a significant legal precedent in Japan regarding AI-generated content. The case involved actor Kenjiro Tsuda, who sued over an anonymous TikTok account that used AI to clone his distinctive voice for videos. While the court dismissed the request to remove the videos—as they had already been deleted—it affirmed that unauthorized AI mimicry of a performer’s voice for commercial gain constitutes an infringement on their personality rights. This decision is a major victory for Japanese voice actors, who have been campaigning against the unauthorized use of their likenesses and vocal identities. The ruling establishes that a voice is as symbolic of an individual’s personality as a portrait, potentially curbing the unchecked use of AI tools to replicate professional talent without consent.