Tokyo Court Rules Human Voice Deserves Legal Protection

A Tokyo court has granted legal protection to the human voice in a significant ruling that addresses the growing concerns of AI-generated voice cloning. The decision came in a case brought by Kenjiro Tsuda, a popular Japanese anime voice actor, who sued over the unauthorized use of an AI clone of his voice on TikTok.

The Tokyo District Court's ruling on Wednesday marks the first time Japan has acknowledged the right to one's voice. Tsuda, known for his distinctive baritone in roles such as Kento Nanami in "Jujutsu Kaisen," argued that the anonymous operator of a TikTok account, "Nanami," had profited by using his voice, cloned by artificial intelligence, to narrate over 180 videos on urban legends and paranormal phenomena.

Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi stated that "the human voice is symbolic of individual personality, just like one's portrait." The court found the unauthorized use, with the apparent intention of leveraging Tsuda's commercial appeal, constituted an infringement of publicity rights. The TikTok account had amassed over 200,000 subscribers by November 2025, with many users noting the striking similarity between the narrator's voice and Tsuda's.

The defendant had claimed the videos used an AI-generated voice that merely sounded like Tsuda's, asserting it did not damage his reputation. However, the court's decision acknowledged the infringement. Tsuda's demand for the deletion of all videos was moot, as the TikTok account had already been closed.

This ruling arrives as Japanese voice actors express increasing apprehension about AI technology replicating their unique voices. The case echoes similar discussions globally, including OpenAI's decision in 2024 to halt the use of a ChatGPT voice after actress Scarlett Johansson noted its resemblance to her own. Last year, actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey entered into agreements with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs to permit the replication of their voices using AI technology.