I’m from China, so don’t go around assuming you know more about Chinese law than me. It’s just more NA people thinking they know how China works, but don’t.

And whether Mihoyo will actually do that is just as much speculation as whether they won’t do it. And it’s irrelevant anyways, since voice actors have already stated that their contract for work on Hoyoverse properties already have strict provisions against AI.

Its law is literally called the Deep Synthesis Provisions. It does not care where the media originates, it only cares when the hits the shores of China. So long as EN voice packs are available in the CN build, the sources of said voices will be regulated.

It’s not a law, it’s a government department called the NPPA. They’re the regulatory force behind any and all video game related publishing. Each and every video game published in China must be screened by the NPPA first. Major updates included.

As I already detailed, that’s irrelevant as long as EN voice packs are available in the CN build of the game.

Have you seen Chinese social media? They’re very antagonistic against Mihoyo as it is.

The only way for Mihoyo to circumvent the law and collect digital personas anyways is to remove non CN voice packs in the Chinese build.

As I previously mentioned, the game being released in China means their foreign offices are irrelevant. Their law regarding personality rights and copyright does not require the victim to be Chinese, as it’s held against the offender.

The cheapest way is to simply have the Chinese playerbase find out about this and have them make a fuss, Chinese regulators will do the rest. The proper way is to work with the violated person’s foreign department and embassy to file a formal complaint to China’s Cyberspace Administration.

If Mihoyo truly were stupid enough to go against Chinese law, and the two layers of Chinese regulations for video games publishing were to miss the fact that they non consensually created and used a digital persona based off a person, then avenues for rights protection are varied.

An update cannot be pushed if Mihoyo were to fail to disclose, or found out they fabricated how they obtained the dataset for the digital persona.

And on top of that, each video game and including updates must go through China’s video game publishing approval board. This requires content review, including voice assets. The disclosure of third party tools and data sets. And documented compliance with copyright and personality rights.

And in regards to voices that are not direct replicas but are instead modified from a base recording, China has released regulations regarding Deep Synthesis in 2023. It requires the:
• Disclosure of training data sources
• Consent for identifiable data
• Labeling of synthetic content

Mihoyo having foreign branches is irrelevant. If a product is released in China, then Chinese law applies. Media published in China requires dual consent when it comes to likeness. One for copyright use, and one for personality rights. This includes any and all foreign based contributors.

Case No. (2023) Jing 0491 Min Chu No. 12142 Successfully argued that companies cannot use AI to mimic a person’s voice without that person’s explicit consent. This extends to mimicked people not within the jurisdiction of China, as the law applies to the offender, not the offendee.

Not sure if you’re aware but as a Chinese company, they are forbidden by Chinese law to use AI to mimick someone’s likeness (including voices) in the first place. This extends to non Chinese work. Any contract with AI protection will be moot, as they legally cannot use AI for VA work anyway.