The Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by prominent anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda demanding that TikTok remove videos featuring an artificial intelligence-generated imitation of his voice, while affirming that voice is protected under publicity rights. The ruling, issued Wednesday, marks the first case in Japan addressing voice rights infringement in connection with generative AI.
Tsuda, known for roles in major franchises such as "Jujutsu Kaisen," filed the suit against TikTok’s operator in November 2025. The complaint identified 188 videos posted between July 2024 and September 2025 by a single account with approximately 210,000 subscribers. Each video, narrated by an AI-generated voice closely resembling Tsuda’s distinctive tone, averaged about 1.47 million views. The account’s creator reportedly earned between ¥500,000 ($3,100) and ¥750,000 monthly from the videos. Comments from subscribers frequently noted the narrations sounded like Tsuda.
During the trial, Tsuda’s legal team presented an analysis of the voice data, arguing that the generative AI had intentionally replicated his unique voice. They asserted this as a violation of his publicity rights — the legal protection allowing celebrities to control commercial use of their identity attributes — and also claimed a breach of unfair competition law, which prohibits unauthorized exploitation of product labels.
The defendant, representing the social media platform operator, countered that the accused individual had used generative AI trained on a friend’s voice and that the output was a generic male voice rather than a precise imitation of Tsuda’s. The defense also noted the contested account had since been deleted along with all its video content, and urged the court to dismiss the claim as moot.
Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi acknowledged that voice falls within the scope of publicity rights, akin to names and images, thus recognizing voice as a legally protected aspect of one’s identity. However, she declined to grant Tsuda’s removal request given the account and videos were no longer accessible.
This case reflects growing global concerns about the unauthorized use of AI to clone voices of actors and singers. In August, Japan’s Justice Ministry released expert panel guidelines affirming that voices should be protected under publicity rights, signaling increased legal attention to AI-generated identity infringements. The Tokyo District Court ruling highlights both the complexities and emerging legal frameworks surrounding voice rights in Japan as artificial intelligence technology advances.