TOKYO - The government on Monday began discussing legal responses to the unauthorized use of images and voices of Japanese celebrities and voice actors, proposing to extend protection to voices to stem the proliferation of artificial intelligence-created fake videos.
An initial draft presented by the Justice Ministry to an expert panel proposed that voices of public figures, as well as their likenesses, should be protected by "a right not to be used arbitrarily." The guidelines, aimed at clarifying protections for voices, are likely to be approved without opposition.
The panel also recommended expanding publicity rights to include voices. Japan currently has no laws protecting against unauthorized use of voices, nor have there been any court rulings determining the criteria for infringement.
The move comes after the Japan Publicity Rights Protection Organization recently said more than 43,000 images and videos are suspected of using AI-generated likenesses or voices of Japanese celebrities and voice actors without consent over roughly two months starting in June last year.
The resulting economic losses for celebrities and other rights holders are estimated to total between 2 billion yen ($12 million) and 4.5 billion yen, based on the fees associated with using a person's likeness and voice, as well as the advertising value generated by view counts, it said.
