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The Japan Actors Union has issued new rules, guidelines, and restrictions related to AI-generated voice use. This includes an outright ban on the replication of the voices of dead actors, unless the actor had authorised its use during their lifetime.

Per Automaton , these guidelines are meant to protect an industry that has been exposed to exploitation by generative AI. One example includes voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda (Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man) taking Tiktok to court in an attempt to remove AI-generated voice imitations from the platform. He would go on to lose that case, but not without setting a precedent that a person's voice is subject to protection under publicity rights laws.

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The guidelines cover four major points. The first is focused on consent and establishes that permission must be granted at "every stage" of the generative AI process.…