Japanese voice actor Tsuda Kenjiro has filed a lawsuit against the operator of video-sharing app TikTok to seek the removal of videos that he says used generative AI to imitate his voice without permission.
The case was filed in November with the Tokyo District Court. The complaint says that between July 2024 and the time the lawsuit was filed, at least 188 videos with narrations imitating his voice were uploaded on a TikTok account.
Tsuda says the AI-generated voice could be mistaken for his own and infringes on his right of publicity.
The operator says the narrations used a generic male voice and the poster of the videos clearly states on the site that they were generated by having AI learn the voice of a friend. The operator argues that the voice cannot be confused with Tsuda’s and there is no infringement of publicity rights.
In April, Japan’s Justice Ministry launched an expert panel to respond to a rise in the unauthorized use of AI-generated voices.
The panel is discussing what sort of cases could be subject to civil liability for the infringement of rights.
AloJapan.com