午夜剧场

The virtual reproduction of portraits and voices is sparking debate, partly because images generated by machine learning to mimic a deceased person's singing were broadcast on the year-end Kohaku Uta Gassen. Furthermore, for living individuals, images cleverly forged for sexual or political purposes—known as "deepfakes"—have become a problem. With the spread of information technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between "real" records and "virtual" creations regarding audiovisual information representing a specific persona.

In Japan, although there are no specific laws to protect portraits and similar attributes, claims for damages based on the infringement of so-called portrait rights for mental distress and publicity rights for financial loss have been recognized through the interpretation of the Civil Code. However, publicity rights, which protect commercial customer-attracting power, are also understood to derive from personality rights, and debate continues as to whether these rights persist after a person's death. Additionally, the scope of protection under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information is limited to information concerning living individuals.

On the other hand, in the United States, the majority view considers the nature of publicity rights to be property rights, and there are many instances where state laws allow for the inheritance of publicity rights. Nevertheless, as evidenced by the repeated failures to amend New York State law, policy evaluations remain divided. In particular, the duration of publicity rights after death varies greatly by state, and there is a strong desire for unification through the enactment of federal law.

When the portraits of the deceased are used beyond the record of a once-existing "persona," many people express a sense of "discomfort." What is the true nature of that discomfort? Is it consideration for the bereaved family and related parties? If so, is what is being envisioned the preservation of mental peace or the distribution of financial compensation? Or is the problem the risk of misleading consumers? Or perhaps it is an expression of religious sentiment toward the dead? In any case, the time has come to deepen the examination of this issue as a matter that also concerns the freedom of expression.