The advancement of artificial intelligence has just recorded a rather bitter precedent for Japan’s entertainment industry. The Tokyo District Court officially dismissed the lawsuit filed by renowned voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against the TikTok operator company, a historic case that sought to stop the wave of content using his unmistakable voice tone without his authorization.

The legal battle began in November 2025, when Tsuda’s legal team decided to act after detecting that an anonymous account had posted at least 188 videos using an AI-generated voice that mimicked his deep and distinguished tone almost identically. The account exceeded 210,000 followers and accumulated average views of 1.47 million per video, narrating horror stories and urban legends, allowing the channel creator to generate monthly income between $3,300 and $5,000 from the actor’s voice.

The actor’s representatives argued that these videos violated his image rights and violated Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Law by directly profiting from the commercial value of someone else’s identity. However, the platform’s defense maintained that the account and videos had already been permanently deleted by mid-2026. The court accepted the argument that the lawsuit lacked substance since there was no active material left on the servers to remove, dismissing the case without issuing a ruling on voice cloning.

This ruling leaves significant concern among dubbing professionals, as Japanese law does not explicitly protect the voice as an independent intellectual property right. Although several government agencies have suggested that commercial vocal imitation could be penalized under certain circumstances, the lack of clear laws leaves artists in a position of total vulnerability to generative tools.

About Kenjiro Tsuda

Kenjiro Tsuda is one of the most prominent and influential voice actors and directors in contemporary Japanese animation. Born on June 11, 1971, Tsuda has earned international audience recognition thanks to his deep and highly distinctive voice, bringing to life iconic characters such as Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, Kishibe in Chainsaw Man, and Tatsu in Gokushufudou, maintaining a constant presence in high-profile productions.

Do you think laws should be updated immediately to protect actors’ voices against AI cloning?