Japan Court Recognizes Voice Rights in TikTok AI Case

Japan has just given AI voice clones a legal problem of their own: your voice may be protected even when the words were never yours.

In a Sept. 30 ruling involving Japanese actor Kenjiro Tsuda, the Tokyo District Court recognized that a person’s voice can receive protection under publicity rights. The protection applies when the purpose of using the voice is exclusively to exploit its commercial appeal.

The dispute centered on TikTok videos allegedly created with AI-generated speech resembling Tsuda’s voice, rather than recordings of Tsuda himself. The distinction matters for businesses using synthetic voices in advertising, training, or customer communications: generating new speech does not remove the need to consider consent and rights to a person’s identity.

The court recognized voice protection but dismissed the takedown request

According to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press, a faceless TikTok account published several videos featuring a voice that Tsuda...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.techrepublic.com. To see the full text click HERE