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The story
On October 15, the Japan Actors Union (Nihon Haiyu Rengo) released guidelines on the use of generative AI for voice. Vice chairperson Nozawa Masako spoke in a video message about her disillusionment over unauthorized use of her voice, while managing director Shimada Bin reportedly let out a deep sigh at the press conference. The backdrop: a lawsuit over the unauthorized use of Tsuda Kenjiro’s voice resulted in voices being recognized as covered by “publicity rights,” yet the law itself hasn’t caught up. On 5ch, posts arguing voice actors will become unnecessary thanks to AI clashed with posts pushing back against that view, and the discussion spread to cover how enforceable this would be on platforms like TikTok, and the ethics of recreating deceased performers’ voices with AI.
October 15, 2026
A press conference announcing the Japan Actors Union’s “Guidelines on the Use of Generative AI for Voice” was held today, October 15, at Geino Kadensha in Tokyo. Vice chairperson Ikemizu Michihiro, managing directors Shimada Bin and Sasaki Yuko, and others took the stage, while vice chairperson Nozawa Masako contributed a video message.
The guidelines were created to spread shared understanding around the use of generative AI for voice and to help build an environment where it can be used safely and with peace of mind. A lawsuit over Tsuda Kenjiro’s voice established that “voice, like one’s likeness, is a symbol of personal identity and is protected under publicity rights” — but it also exposed the fact that the law hasn’t been updated to match. The Japan Actors Union has voiced concern over performers’ voices and likenesses being used without permission to train AI, and over singing or speech being generated without the performer’s consent.
Source: natalie.mu / Original article here
What people said
That's his own voice, so it's not a problem.
I mean, that would also rule out successors or 2nd/3rd actors matching the voice of the person before them.
he'll get taken down too.
Of course there are other voice actors at that same caliber too.
The speed of its evolution is insane too.
As long as you've got one person who can convey emotion, you can cover all sorts of roles regardless of gender — and maybe you won't even need that.
Just feed it the footage and the script and let it auto-generate, done.
Nobody but voice-actor diehards (声豚, obsessive fanboys) would even be bothered.
If that were really true, there'd have been no need to generate "a real, specific person's voice" with AI in the first place, right?
Trying to deny the appeal that comes from human individuality just doesn't hold up.
Emotion generated from mere training data will never, ever match the soul a real human actually puts into it.
Hiroyuki himself has said people are free to use his voice.
Voice acting is just talking, after all.
We should be cutting back on whatever's causing the labor shortage.
There's no real argument against it.
You're confusing her with Mizutani Yuko.
China, for that matter, is already moving to abolish language and arts departments
and replace them with AI.
No matter how hard you try, regulating this is a lost cause.
TikTok really is a lawless wasteland.
Live streams that are supposed to be recording-prohibited end up chopped into clips and uploaded the very next day.
That exact argument got torn to shreds back when they tried it with Misora Hibari.
No no, I don't mean clipped footage — I mean the synthesized-voice kind of thing.
That's why Hiroyuki himself is saying people are free to use his voice with AI.
If anything covers it, it'd be publicity rights, but it's unclear whether a clean line can even be drawn.
Because it'd screw over anyone who just happens to naturally sound like an existing voice actor.
A voice actor was just in court over this recently, and publicity rights were recognized, I believe.
If it can at least be shut down within Japan, that'll have a decent effect — there was that Tsuda lawsuit not long ago, after all.
Current voice AI can produce a near-perfect clone from just 3 seconds of source audio.
Even an ordinary gaming PC can generate it in an instant.
It's disrespectful to both Ojamajo Doremi and Freddie.
The real dark side of that isn't the original creator — it's the swarm of copycats monetizing ripoffs of it.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
These guidelines are standards put forward by the Japan Actors Union, an industry body — not actual law — so they carry no legal force to directly punish unauthorized use. The “publicity right” recognized in the lawsuit is also a separate right from copyright, uniquely grounded in a person’s personal interest in their own identity, and just how far its protection extends remains undefined. The thread split between those who see AI voice mimicry as “the end of voice acting as a profession” and those who countered that “there’s expression only a human can produce.” A similar divide played out in the past when Misora Hibari’s voice was recreated with AI, and this debate is an extension of that same argument. It was also pointed out that overseas video platforms like TikTok are difficult to police for unauthorized AI-generated voice, meaning domestic legislation alone won’t resolve the issue.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Voice Actors] Nozawa Masako Disillusioned by Unauthorized Voice Use, Shimada Bin Lets Out a Deep Sigh — Japan Actors Union Announces Generative AI Voice Use Guidelines.”
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