Kenjiro Tsuda sues TikTok over AI imitation of his voice, and a court recognizes voice as protectable

Voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda filed a lawsuit in November 2025 with the Tokyo District Court against TikTok's operator. The reason: the publication of videos with AI-generated narration that imitated his voice without authorization.

According to the lawsuit, between July 2024 and September 2025, an account published 188 videos with narration imitating Tsuda's characteristic deep voice, known for roles such as Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen. The account had over 210,000 followers and reportedly earned between 500,000 and 750,000 yen per month from views.

Tsuda's legal team argued that using a recognizable voice for commercial purposes violated his right of publicity and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. TikTok's operator, on the other hand, maintained that it was a common male voice and that the creator claimed to have trained the AI with a friend's voice.

On September 30, 2026, the court recognized that voice can be subject to protection under the right of publicity, just like image. However, it rejected the deletion request because the account was removed in May and the videos were no longer on the platform's servers.

Originally published on Anitsu by Sebastián Mamani. Text reviewed and fact-checked for DonOtaku on November 5, 2026; the original date is preserved.