Tokyo court extends publicity rights to human voices

A Tokyo court has acknowledged that a person's voice can be protected under publicity rights, a significant legal development in a dispute involving AI-generated narration that closely resembled a well-known anime actor. On September 30, the Tokyo District Court ruled that, like a person's image, a voice embodies an individual's identity and possesses commercial value.

However, the court dismissed voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda's request to remove videos from TikTok since the disputed material had already been deleted. Judge Aya Takahashi determined that unauthorized use of a distinctive voice could infringe upon publicity rights when it is solely used to exploit its ability to attract customers or audiences.

This marks Japan's first judicial recognition that voices can fall within this form of protection, though the court did not find that TikTok or the unidentified video creator had infringed Tsuda's rights. The judgment does not conclusively determine whether the narration actually reproduced Tsuda's voice, whether artificial intelligence was used to imitate him, or whether the videos satisfied the legal conditions for infringement.

The case highlights the need for clearer guidelines on how existing legal principles apply to synthetic speech, as the court's decision limits the immediate impact on Tsuda while providing a clearer indication for performers and businesses. The ruling comes as advancements in generative AI make it possible to produce convincing synthetic narration without using an original recording, complicating traditional distinctions between copying audio and imitating identity.