Copyright & creativityTokyo court rules a human voice is protected like a portrait

A Tokyo court ruled on September 30 that the human voice is legally protected, in a suit by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against TikTok. Tsuda said 188 videos used an AI clone of his lustrous baritone and claimed infringement of his publicity rights and unfair competition. Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi said unauthorized use of a performer's voice can infringe publicity rights, and that the voice is symbolic of individual personality, just like a portrait.

The court dismissed his request to have the videos deleted because they had already been removed, and it did not rule on whether the AI voice copied his. The lawsuit is believed to be Japan's first seeking to defend an individual's vocal identity against AI-generated copies.