Tokyo Court Recognises Voice As A Protected Right After Jujutsu Kaisen Actor Challenges TikTok AI Videos

A voice that millions of fans associate with a familiar anime character has become the centre of a legal battle over artificial intelligence, after Japanese voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda challenged TikTok over videos he says used an AI-generated copy of his distinctive voice.

The Tokyo District Court ruled on 30 September 2026 that a person’s voice can be protected under Japan’s publicity rights, while rejecting Tsuda’s request for TikTok to remove the disputed videos because they had already been deleted.

Japan Court Recognises Voice As A Protected Identity Right

Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi said an individual’s voice can fall under publicity rights when it is used without permission to commercially exploit its appeal.

The ruling said,

“Human voice is a symbol of an individual’s personality, just like image.”

Takahashi added that “the unauthorised use of a performer’s voice ... can be considered an infringement on publicity rights”.

Publicity rights allow people, particularly public figures, to control the commercial use of identifying parts of their identity, such as their name, image or other recognisable features.

The ruling is believed to be the first time a Japanese court has specifically recognised voice as protected under these rights in a case involving generative AI.

Why Did Kenjiro Tsuda Sue TikTok?

Tsuda, 55, who is known for roles in major anime franchises including Jujutsu Kaisen and Yu-Gi-Oh!, sued TikTok in November over 188 videos posted by an anonymous account between July 2024 and September 2025.

The videos covered urban legends, occult topics and conspiracy theories, accompanied by a voice that Tsuda said was an AI imitation of his distinctive “deep and lustrous” voice.

The account had around 210,000 subscribers, while its videos averaged roughly 1.47 million views each.

Tsuda’s legal team argued that the account’s popularity and commercial earnings were linked to the appeal of his recognisable voice.

According to the complaint, the account could generate between ¥500,000 and ¥750,000 per month, equivalent to about $3,100 to $4,700.

His lawyers said analysis of the voice data indicated that generative AI had been used to reproduce Tsuda’s vocal characteristics.

They argued that the unauthorised use infringed his publicity rights and also violated Japan’s unfair competition prevention law.

TikTok Disputed Whether The Voice Was Tsuda’s

TikTok rejected the claim that the videos used an AI copy of Tsuda’s voice.

According to court records, the platform argued that the account creator had allowed generative AI to learn the voice of a friend and that the resulting audio was simply a “generic male voice”.

TikTok also argued that any resemblance to Tsuda was subjective.

The platform further pointed out that the account and videos had already been removed, meaning there was no longer material for it to take down.

The court accepted that part of the argument, dismissing Tsuda’s removal request because the videos had been deleted several months after the lawsuit began.

Why Voice Actors Are Watching The Case Closely

The ruling has drawn attention from Japan’s voice acting industry, where performers can become closely associated with the characters they portray.

Yuko Sasaki, executive director of the Japan Actors Union and a voice actor herself, said an actor’s voice “is the result of years of rigorous training and apprenticeship” to develop their skills.

“It’s something we spend lots of time and money perfecting.”

Sasaki added,

“We support Tsuda wholeheartedly.”

Sasaki and other Japanese voice actors have also launched a campaign called “No More”, opposing the use of generative AI to imitate performers without permission.

Actor Bin Shimada, who is involved in the campaign, previously warned that “Our industry can be crushed” if unrestricted AI voice cloning spreads across social media.

He also said such developments could cause younger actors to “lose hope”.

Japan’s AI Voice Debate Is Expanding Beyond Copyright

The case arrives as performers in several countries face growing concerns over AI systems that can reproduce recognisable voices.

The legal question is particularly important because voice protection does not necessarily depend on traditional copyright ownership.

Japan’s publicity rights instead focus on the commercial value attached to a person’s identity.

A Japanese Justice Ministry panel of experts issued guidelines in August stating that voices, like images, should be protected under publicity rights.

The issue has also appeared in other parts of the entertainment industry.

In 2024, OpenAI apologised to actor Scarlett Johansson after releasing a synthetic voice that she said sounded similar to her own, following her decision not to participate in the project.

The International Federation of Actors said last year that “In many countries copyright and data protection laws are not being adequately adapted” to protect performers from AI-generated copies.

For Japanese voice actors, the Tokyo ruling provides a legal basis for treating a recognisable voice as part of a performer’s identity, even though Tsuda did not obtain the removal order he originally sought.