The Tokyo District Court reportedly recognized on September 30, 2026, that a person’s voice may receive publicity-rights protection when its use is aimed exclusively at exploiting its commercial appeal. The court made no order requiring TikTok to remove the videos because the anonymous account had already been deleted.
What the Tokyo court reportedly recognized
Publicity rights protect the commercial value of a person’s identity. In this case, the reported ruling concerned a voice used with the exclusive purpose of exploiting its commercial appeal.
That condition is central to the decision: the case concerned a particular claim about voice use, not a general rule for every AI-generated voice.
The TikTok case centered on an alleged AI voice imitation
Anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda sought the removal of TikTok videos narrated by a voice he alleged was an AI imitation of his. An anonymous account posted videos about urban myths, the occult, and trivia. Tsuda’s lawsuit over the alleged imitation is covered in NeoTeo’s earlier report.
Why the court made no removal order
The anonymous account had already been deleted, so the Tokyo District Court did not order TikTok to take down the videos. The absence of a removal order was the practical outcome of the request; it was separate from the court’s reported recognition that a voice may receive protection under the stated commercial-use condition.
Tsuda and TikTok disputed whose voice the narration used
Tsuda alleged that the narration imitated his voice. TikTok’s operator disputed that it was specifically Tsuda’s, describing it as a standard male voice.
