A Tokyo court ruled that human voices are legally protected under publicity rights in Japan after anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda sued TikTok over AI-generated videos mimicking his distinctive baritone. The court found unauthorized voice use can infringe publicity rights, though it dismissed Tsuda's request to remove the videos since they had already been taken down. The ruling marks Japan's first legal protection for voices and reflects growing concerns among performers worldwide about AI voice cloning.