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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

AI tool that copied actor’s ‘lustrous’ voice violated his rights, Tokyo court rules

TikTok Tokyo Japan
Tsuda Kenjiro, in a black shirt and jacket, looks off to the side at a red carpet event
Tsuda Kenjiro’s legal team argued that the content posted by the anonymous TikTok account was ‘sordid’. Photograph: Dick Thomas Johnson

A court in Japan has ruled that the human voice has legal protection after a landmark case involving a well-known actor and a TikTok account that he claimed had cloned his “lustrous” baritone voice in its AI-generated videos.

Tokyo district court said on Wednesday that voices should enjoy the same protection as publicity rights, at the end of a closely watched legal action brought against TikTok by Kenjiro Tsuda – best known for voicing the character Kento Nanami in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen.

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