Veteran voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda has filed a lawsuit against the company operating the video-sharing app TikTok over the unauthorized use of his iconic voice. As reported by Yomiuri Shimbun on May 23, Tsuda, the unmistakable deep and husky voice behind Jujutsu Kaisen’s Kento Nanami and Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Seto Kaiba, filed the lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court in November 2025.
The suit seeks the immediate removal of over 180 videos featuring narration that Tsuda’s legal team alleges was created using generative AI to mimic his specific vocal identity without permission. These videos reportedly garner an estimated monthly revenue of 500,000–750,000 yen (about $3100 – 4,700 USD).
Tsuda’s legal team argues that the videos infringe upon his publicity rights (the right of celebrities to control the commercial use of their name, likeness, and persona) and violate the Unfair Competition Prevention Law (which prohibits unauthorized use of well-known products and intellectual property). On the other hand, TikTok’s side asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the narration used in the videos is simply a “generic male voice” and does not infringe upon Tsuda’s publicity rights.
Though it wasn’t explicitly stated whether it’s directly related to this case, In April 2026, Japan’s Ministry of Justice established a review panel to clarify the circumstances under which damages may be awarded in cases involving generative AI videos that use a person’s likeness or voice without permission.
Additionally, in 2025, Japanese consulting company group IP Forward published the results of a large-scale survey on suspected infringement cases of publicity rights in the age of generative AI. “Technological innovations such as generative AI have helped us realize that Infringement cases which were previously analog in format are now digitally spreading across the world through social media,” the company concludes. It also adds that Japan Publicity Rights Protection Non-Profit Organization (JAPRPO), which commissioned the survey, will continue investigations on this matter in the following years, while also aiming to establish collaborative systems with platform operators and formulate industry guidelines for the commercial use of AI.
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