With generative AI becoming more and more of an issue for creatives in all industries, voice actors in Japan are finding their own way to fight back against the unauthorized use of their voices. Last week, the union representing Japanese voice actors issued its own guidelines regarding the use of AI, as a number of actors spoke about the personal and professional challenges they’ve faced due to the technology.
Voice actors in Japan have been taking a stand against the unauthorized use of their voice for a number of years. In 2024, a group of voice actors came together to create their own organization protesting AI voice misuse, specifically citing the lack of legal copyright protections. One voice actor, Kenjiro Tsuda, known for voice roles in Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, even sued TikTok regarding the proliferation of videos using his voice on social media, though the case was dismissed once the videos were removed. While some voice actors have advocated for systems allowing for private, licensed use of AI to replicate performers’ voices, the general view of the technology among voice actors in Japan is that it could steal their work and future opportunities.
At a press conference on Thursday, the Japan Actors Union (JAU) presented the first version of its new guidelines regarding the use of generative AI. The guidelines define these new rules as covering any audio recordings made with AI technology replicating actors’ voices, including unauthorized use for voice synthesis, deep learning, machine learning, and so forth.
Source link







