While calling voice a protected right, court dismisses voice actor’s AI case
Kenjiro Tsuda's lawsuit was the first in Japan filed over a "voice rights" infringement using generative artificial intelligence.
The Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by renowned anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, who claimed that TikTok remove videos featuring an AI-generated clone of his voice. Judge Aya Takahashi acknowledged voice as a protected right under publicity laws, but ruled that the videos in question had already been removed. Tsuda, known for his roles in various popular anime franchises, sued TikTok in November, claiming that 188 videos posted between July 2024 and September 2025, featuring an AI-generated voice similar to his own, generated significant revenue for the account's creator.
The account, with 210,000 subscribers, averaged around 1.47 million views per video, earning the creator between ¥500,000 and ¥750,000 per month. Tsuda's legal team argued that the use of generative AI to create a convincing imitation of his voice constituted a violation of his publicity rights and unfair competition laws. However, TikTok contended that the creator had simply used a generic male voice, not a clone of Tsuda's distinct deep and lustrous voice.
The platform operator also pointed out that the account and video data had been deleted. The Justice Ministry had previously released guidelines in August, suggesting that voices should be protected under publicity rights, much like images.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Japan court rules human voice is protected in TikTok AI case channelnewsasia.com
