Japan’s voice actors just won a big battle against artificial intelligence. In a historic ruling, the Tokyo District Court decided that a person’s voice is legally protected under publicity rights, officially treating someone’s unique vocal identity with the exact same legal status as their physical face or portrait.
The landmark case was brought by veteran anime actor Kenjiro Tsuda, known globally for his iconic roles as Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen and Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!
A viral TikTok account making money off an iconic voice
As AFP reports, the lawsuit targeted an anonymous TikTok creator who cloned Tsuda’s trademark baritone to narrate viral videos without permission.
The whole legal battle started over an anonymous account named “Nanami” that built a massive following of over 200,000 subscribers. The account posted nearly 190 videos about conspiracy theories, urban legends, and occult stories using an AI voice clone that sounded identical to Tsuda, alongside an avatar resembling his Jujutsu Kaisen character. According to legal documents, the account was pulling in anywhere from 75,000 to 500,000 yen (up to $4,070) a month purely by riding on the star power of Tsuda’s voice.
During the trial, TikTok tried to argue that the videos simply used a “generic male voice.” The company also claimed that any resemblance to the actor was completely subjective. But Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi shut that down quickly, stating that a person’s voice is “as symbolic of one’s personality as portraits are.” She ruled that using an actor’s voice without consent to profit off its commercial appeal directly violates publicity rights.
Because the user ended up deleting the account mid-lawsuit, the court didn’t force TikTok to delete the content. This led Tsuda’s lawyer, Takashi Hirano, to note that the verdict “ended up making both sides look victorious.”
Protecting an industry threatened by generative AI
This ruling comes at a crucial moment for Japan’s animation industry, where voice performers are celebrated like rockstars. Members of the Japan Actors Union, including executive director Yuko Sasaki and veteran actor Bin Shimada, have been leading a vigorous “No More” campaign against unauthorized AI voice copying, warning that uncontrolled cloning could destroy the industry and ruin opportunities for younger actors who spend years perfecting their vocal skills.
This battle reflects similar fights around the world. Japanese officials have even stepped in directly, asking OpenAI to keep anime assets out of its Sora 2 video generator training data.
