The Tokyo District Court ruled on Wednesday that a person's voice is protected under publicity rights (the legal right to control and profit from one's identity), in a first-of-its-kind case brought by actor Kenjiro Tsuda, known for voicing a character in the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. Tsuda said an anonymous TikTok account had used an AI-cloned version of his distinctive baritone in 188 videos, but the court declined to order their removal because the user deleted them soon after the suit was filed. The ruling matters for Japan's anime voice actors, who fear AI imitation threatens their livelihoods, though the court said protection applies when a voice is used purely to exploit its commercial appeal.