Japan to Protect Rights of Voices over Generative AI Use

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Justice Ministry has come up with a draft report calling for the protection of the voices of famous individuals, alongside their portraits, regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence.

The draft report on civil responsibility over the unauthorized use of portraits and voices of famous people was submitted to an expert committee Monday. The ministry will release a final report as early as August after receiving expert feedback.

Many things remain unclear regarding what constitutes illegal use of voices as no Japanese court ruling has been issued on related rights.

The ministry said that it hopes the final report will be used as a reference in lawsuits and AI development.

The draft assumes, for example, a scenario in which a sound source that may mislead people into thinking that a voice actor is reading an obscene text is created with the use of generative AI and posted on social media for profit.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]