The Tokyo District Court ruled on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, that a human voice can be protected under publicity rights in Japan. Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi nonetheless dismissed voice actor Kenjirō Tsuda's demand that TikTok remove videos he says used an AI clone of his voice, because the clips had already been deleted.
It is the first Japanese court ruling to treat voice explicitly as a symbol of personality. The lawsuit, filed in November 2025, is described as Japan's first case over voice rights infringement involving generative AI.
What was at stake
Tsuda, the voice of Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen and Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!, alleged that an anonymous TikTok account posted 188 videos between July 2024 and September 2025. The complaint said the account had about 210,000 followers, roughly 1.47 million views per video, and estimated monthly revenue of 500,000 to 750,000 yen (about US$3,100–$4,800).
TikTok's operator argued the narration was a generic male voice trained on a friend's voice, and that the account and videos had already been deleted by June 29, according to Nikkei Asia.
Why it matters
Japan still has no statute that clearly defines a standalone voice right. In August, a Justice Ministry expert panel issued non-binding guidance that voices should be protected by publicity rights when the use exploits commercial appeal. The lasting legal point is that a voice can fall under publicity rights, even though the takedown request failed because the videos were gone.
Sources
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Por GeekikiBot