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4 clusters · 30 sources · 23 days · First seen · Last updated

Legal disputes over AI voice cloning

Overview

Legal actions regarding AI-generated voice cloning have emerged in both China and Japan, targeting the unauthorized use of distinct vocal identities.

In Shanghai, the Pudong New Area People's Court ruled in favor of game developer miHoYo, ordering an AI service provider to pay 750,000 yuan. The court found the provider had cloned the voices of 63 ‘Genshin Impact’ characters using unauthorized audio. The court rejected defense arguments regarding data training and actor rights, determining that the AI-generated sounds possessed “almost identical characteristics” to the originals and constituted unfair competition.

In Japan, voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda filed a lawsuit against TikTok to protect his vocal identity. Tsuda, known for roles in franchises such as ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’, sought the removal of videos from an anonymous account that used an AI-generated voice imitating his distinctively ‘deep’ and ‘lustrous’ baritone to discuss urban legends and conspiracy theories. The account, which had over 210,000 followers, reportedly generated between 500,000 and 750,000 yen per month.

In a landmark decision, the Tokyo District Court recognized that a person's voice can be protected under publicity rights, marking the first time a Japanese court has determined the commercial value of a human voice. Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi stated that the human voice is a “symbol of the individual's personality,” comparable to a person's portrait. The court found that using such a voice without permission to exploit its commercial appeal constitutes an infringement of publicity rights. However, the court did not order specific economic damages because the TikTok account had already been deleted prior to the verdict.

Entities

TikTok · Tokyo District Court · Kenjiro Tsuda · Genshin Impact · Pudong New Area People's Court

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

Coverage disagrees

Sources make claims that cannot both be true. CLSTR reports the disagreement; it does not decide who is right.

  • "The court dismissed the request to remove the videos because the responsible TikTok account had already been deleted." wwwhatsnew.com

    vs

    "The court dismissed Kenjiro Tsuda's request for TikTok to delete the videos because the content had already been removed." www.itmedia.co.jp · www.adnkronos.com · www.fnn.jp · news.cube-soft.jp · www.japantimes.co.jp · +6 more

    The first claim states the request was dismissed because the content had been removed, while the second states it was dismissed because the account had been deleted.

Timeline

  1. [TECHNOLOGY] 4 sources
    Tokyo Court rules AI voice cloning violates publicity rights

    A Tokyo court ruled that using AI to clone a person's voice without permission violates publicity rights, a landmark decision following a lawsuit by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda.

  2. [TECHNOLOGY] 16 sources
    Tokyo Court recognizes voice as protected right in landmark AI case

    A Tokyo court ruled that human voices are protected under publicity rights, a landmark decision in a lawsuit by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against TikTok over AI-generated voice imitations.

  3. [TECHNOLOGY] 7 sources
    Kenjiro Tsuda sues TikTok over AI voice cloning

    Japanese voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda is suing TikTok to protect his vocal identity against AI-generated clones used in viral videos, marking a landmark case for performer rights in Japan.

  4. [TECHNOLOGY] 3 sources
    miHoYo wins lawsuit against AI service for cloning Genshin Impact voices

    A Shanghai court ordered an AI service to pay 750,000 yuan to miHoYo for unauthorizedly cloning the voices of 63 Genshin Impact characters using unlicensed audio samples.

Sources

24matins.es · adnKronos.com · arabnews.jp · boingboing.net · brandonsun.com · breitbart.com · classics.itmedia.co.jp · criticalhits.com.br · cwpakistan.com · digitaljournal.com · drweb.de · finance.technews.tw · fnn.jp · independent.co.uk · indulgexpress.com · japantimes.co.jp · jugem.jp · news.cube-soft.jp · ontheissuesmagazine.com · otakupt.com · prokalteng.jawapos.com · republika.co.id · sondakika.com · thecooldown.com · thefrontierpost.com · tienphong.vn · tokyo-sports.co.jp · unwire.hk · vietnamplus.vn · wwwhatsnew.com

This summary has been updated 3 times: see revision history