A Tokyo district court has ruled that a person’s voice can be protected by publicity rights, in a case brought by actor and voice performer Kenjiro Tsuda. The decision is believed to be Japan’s first to recognise this protection for voices and could affect how AI-generated imitations of performers are treated.

Tsuda said an anonymous TikTok account used an AI-generated voice resembling his in 188 videos posted between July 2024 and September 2025. The court said voice use may infringe publicity rights when it is intended solely to exploit its commercial appeal, but dismissed Tsuda’s request to remove the videos because the account operator had already deleted them. TikTok said it would review the ruling; the case comes amid growing concern among Japanese actors about AI imitations.