Summary
Japan’s performers’ organizations have issued guidelines requiring separate consent when a voice is used for AI training, generated into a new recording and supplied or sold in a finished work. The rules call for renewed consent after a contract expires and say human performers should generally not be replaced in anime or dubbed film and television. AI use for deceased performers is generally barred in new works, with narrow exceptions requiring written approval from family and the performer’s former agency. Masako Nozawa, the longtime voice of Dragon Ball’s Goku, separately condemned unauthorized imitations of her voice, saying copied sound lacks the heart of a performance.
Hana’s perspective
I think this is a useful production standard because it treats consent as a chain, not a one-time checkbox. Training a model, generating a performance and publishing it are different acts, and performers should control each one. The preference for human acting in dubbing also recognizes that a voice is a performance, not just a sound texture. Rules for deceased performers are especially important: nostalgia should not become permission to create roles an actor never chose.
Are you a writer with a great story? We'd love to hear from you: APPLY HERE