Tokyo — A Tokyo court has granted legal protection to a human voice in a landmark case after a prominent Japanese voice actor known for portraying anime characters asked TikTok to shut down an account that used, without permission, an AI-generated version of his distinctive deep voice.
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The Tokyo District Court’s ruling, issued Wednesday, marked the first recognition in Japan of an individual’s right to their voice. The decision was welcomed by many anime voice actors amid growing concerns about the use of AI-generated replicas of their voices on social media platforms.
The plaintiff, Kenjiro Tsuda, is a voice actor known for his “bright and deep” voice through his performances as leading characters, including Kento Nanami in the popular anime series Jujutsu Kaisen.
In his lawsuit, Tsuda said the anonymous operator of a TikTok account named “Nanami” had unlawfully profited by attracting viewers using a voice resembling his own to narrate more than 180 videos about urban legends and supernatural phenomena. He sought the removal of the content.
According to a court document reviewed by The Associated Press, presiding judge Aya Takahashi said: “The human voice symbolizes an individual’s personality, just like their image.”
Takahashi added that the unauthorized use of the voice, coupled with a clear intention to capitalize on the commercial appeal of Tsuda’s voice, should be considered “an infringement of publicity rights.”
By November 2025, the account had more than 200,000 followers, and viewers frequently pointed out similarities between the narrator’s voice and Tsuda’s.
The defendant argued that the videos used an AI-generated voice resembling Tsuda’s but not his actual voice. The defendant also said the videos had not harmed the actor’s reputation as a voice performer.
The ruling rejected Tsuda’s request to have all videos using his voice removed because the account had already been shut down.
Wednesday’s decision comes as Japanese voice actors face growing concerns over the cloning of their distinctive voices for anime productions using artificial intelligence technologies.
In 2024, OpenAI announced plansto stop using one of the voices available in ChatGPT after actress Scarlett Johansson, star of the film Her, said the voice sounded “eerily similar” to hers.
Last year, Oscar-winning actors Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey reached agreements with voice-cloning company ElevenLabs allowing its AI technology to replicate their voices.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
