The court in Tokyo for the first time protected the voice of the actor from copying artificial intelligence // The court in Tokyo for the first time recognized the voice of a person protected from copying AI

On September 30, the Tokyo District Court ruled for the first time in Japan's history that a person's voice is protected by the right to commercial use of the image, along with the right to a portrait. The decision was made in the case of imitation of the speech of the actor artificial intelligence, reports Kyodo News.

“The human voice, like a portrait, symbolizes a person’s identity,” Judge Ayu Takahashi, the presiding judge, said.

The lawsuit was filed last November by popular voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda, who is best known for his role as Kento Nanami in the anime Magical Battle. The actor demanded that the administration of TikTok remove the videos with the voiceover AI, which, according to him, copied his own. It was about 188 videos on the subject of urban legends, occultism and interesting facts published from July 2024 to September 2025.

Operator TikTok claimed the video used a "standard male voice," which cannot be confused with the actor's voice. In turn, the author of the videos stated that he trained the AI on the voice of his friend. Defendants also insisted that the lawsuit was meaningless because the account was deleted on June 29.

The analysis showed a high similarity between Mr. Tsuda's voice and the AI. According to the lawsuit, due to the recognizable intonations of the actor, the author of the video earned from 500 thousand to 750 thousand yen ($ 3.2-4.8 thousand) per month. The court granted the claim, with the exception of the clause on the removal of the videos - they have already been removed earlier. The plaintiff's lawyer told reporters he would not appeal the decision.

There are currently no laws in Japan that explicitly regulate voting rights. Earlier, the Ministry of Justice of the country issued explanations, according to which the publication in social networks of a video with an AI clone of someone else’s voice for the sake of monetization can be regarded as a violation of rights.

Ernest Philippowski