TOKYO – Over 43,000 images and videos are suspected to have used artificial intelligence to generate the likenesses or voices of Japanese celebrities and voice actors without their consent within a roughly two-month period from June last year, a study by a nonprofit rights protection organization showed.
The Japan Publicity Rights Protection Organization said that the posts on social media platforms — the vast majority of which were on TikTok — were viewed around 335 million times. The resulting economic losses suffered by celebrities and other rights holders are estimated to total between 2 billion ($12 million) and 4.5 billion yen.
“The widespread scale of posts suspected of unauthorized use is deeply concerning. As it is particularly difficult to determine whether a voice matches the original, the cases we have identified are likely just the tip of the iceberg,” an official from the organization said.
Japan’s Justice Ministry has established an expert panel to discuss legal responses to unauthorized use and is expected to compile guidelines as early as this month.
The study examined AI-generated content that featured figures with faces and voices closely resembling those of celebrities and voice actors. Many of the videos were fake, either turning anime into live action or making characters sing using an anime character’s voice.
The estimated economic losses were calculated based on the fees associated with using a person’s likeness and voice, as well as the advertising value of view counts.
Of the images and videos, 43,138 were suspected of using a celebrity’s likeness without permission while 345 involved voices. By social media platform, TikTok accounted for 43,122 posts, followed by YouTube at 232 and X at 129.
The study’s figures are cumulative and include cases that may have been counted twice or more.
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