Symposium "How sound should be protected in the AI era" (Commemorative project for 20th anniversary of School of Information and Communication)
Mar. 13, 2025
The School of Information and Communication held a symposium titled "How sound should be protected in the AI era" on December 7, 2024 at the Surugadai Campus Liberty Hall, in conjunction with an online format, as part of the 20-year anniversary project of the School. About 300 people, including Meiji University students and the general public, attended the symposium, which was moderated by Professor IMAMURA Tetsuya of the School. The two-session symposium, which included case reports and discussions, looked at the current state of business using AI-powered sound generation technology and the legal issues such as infringement of rights arising from the business.
In the first session of the individual reports, Mr. IKEMIZU Michihiro, the Vice Chair of the Japan Actors Union and a voice actor, reported on how voice actors' voices are being learned by AI without their permission and used for singing and speaking voices. He pointed out the problem with Article 30-4 of the Copyright Act, which states that the "case in which it is not a person's purpose to personally enjoy or cause another person to enjoy the thoughts or sentiments expressed in that work" does not constitute copyright infringement, and stressed the necessity of protecting the rights of voice actors throughout the industry. Mr. TSUCHIYA Manabu, a pianist, gave a demonstration of music generation using AI and explained the loss of opportunities for musicians and the impact on their work. Professor ANDO Kazuhiro at Toyo University and Professor IMAMURA summarized the issues of legal protection of sounds in the AI era from the viewpoints of the Copyright Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
In the second session of the general discussions, two voice actors, Ms. SASAKI Yuko (an Executive Director of the Japan Actors Union) and Ms. USHIDA Hiroko (a 2009 graduate of the School of Information and Communication), also participated. The participants discussed the impact of AI-powered sound generation on performers' work, the difficulty of claiming rights as an individual, and the issues of contracts and compensation. In particular, there were discussions on the issues of deepfake, which involves the unauthorized use of a performer's voice to generate and use fake audios and videos, as well as on the trends in foreign laws and regulations, such as the ELVIS Act which was enacted in the United States to protect voices.
It was a meaningful symposium that examined from various angles the issues of sound protection in the AI era, such as how to protect sound by law, and the efforts of the industry to protect the rights of performers.