Tokyo court recognizes publicity rights in voice imitation case

The Tokyo District Court has recognized that a person’s voice can be protected by publicity rights when it is used without permission to exploit its commercial appeal, in a case brought by voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda over TikTok videos said to imitate him. The court dismissed Tsuda’s request to have the videos removed because they had already been taken down. In its September 30 decision, Presiding Judge Aya Takahashi said a voice can be an expression of an individual’s personality, like a portrait. She said unauthorized use intended to take advantage of the commercial value of Tsuda’s voice can infringe publicity rights. The ruling addresses whether a voice can receive such protection; the court’s precise test and the limits of its reasoning are not clear from the available accounts of the decision. Tsuda’s complaint said an anonymous TikTok account posted 188 videos from July 2024 through September 2025, using a voice he said imitated his distinctive baritone. The videos narrated material about urban legends and paranormal subjects. The account reportedly had about 210,000 subscribers.