14:30 JST, October 13, 2026

Cases in which third parties use generative artificial intelligence to imitate the voice of a celebrity without permission have become a growing concern. A court ruling that has, for the first time, recognized that a person’s voice is protected by publicity rights will likely serve as a deterrent against such actions.

In a lawsuit concerning the creation of voice clones, the Tokyo District Court has ruled that a voice is subject to legal protection.

In the lawsuit, popular voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda claimed that videos using AI-generated copies of his voice were posted on the video sharing platform TikTok without his permission. Tsuda had called on TikTok’s operator to remove the videos.

The videos were deleted after the lawsuit was........

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