Delhi HC bars unauthorised use of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's name, image

There is a sharp rise in public figures approaching courts to secure injunctions to safeguard their personality rights.

The latest celebrity to move the court on this matter is veteran actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In an order passed on September 9, the Delhi High Court granted protection to Rai Bachchan over her personality rights, saying any unauthorised use of her name, image, voice or other attributes for commercial gain would be against her right to live a dignified life.

According to the court, if a famous personality’s identity is used without taking into account their consent, it would also result in the individual’s commercial detriment.

'Courts can't turn blind eye'

Justice Tejas Karia of Delhi High Court said in the order made available on Thursday, “The courts in such cases of unauthorised exploitation of one's personality rights, cannot turn a blind-eye to the same and shall protect the aggrieved parties so as to avert any harm to them resulting from the said unauthorised exploitation.”

Also read: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan moves Delhi HC seeking protection of personality rights

The court gave the interim order on a plea by Rai Bachchan, 52, looking to shield her personality rights and stop online platforms from illegally using her name, images and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated pornographic materials.

It said the senior actor has set up a prime facie case for the grant of an ex-parte injunction.

Deepfakes have left celebrities worried

Celebrities across the world, including those in Bollywood, have expressed concerns over the rise of deepfake videos generated by AI.

A few years ago, Indian actor Rashmika Mandanna said it was “extremely scary” after a deepfake video of herself went viral on social media. She also said it was not only she but every person who is at the mercy of misuse of technology.

Also read: Gujarat Police file FIR over deepfake video of Nirmala Sitharaman

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, the father-in-law of Aishwarya who has co-starred in a film with Mandanna, also spoke on the matter saying it merited a strong case for legal action. In 2022, the senior Bachchan had knocked on the court's doors to secure his personality rights and an interim order was passed restraining people from the unauthorised use of his celebrity status to promote goods and services without his permission.

In Aishwarya’s case, the court said a “balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and if an injunction is not granted in the present case, it will lead to an irreparable loss/harm to the plaintiff and her family, not only financially, but also with respect to her right to live with dignity”.

The suit is related to misappropriation of various attributes of the actor’s personality, including her name, image, likeness, persona and voice, and the defendants are using them for their own commercial gain without obtaining her consent.

Also read: Rashmika Mandanna's deepfake video creator arrested: Delhi Police

The right to publicity, popularly known as personality rights, is the right to protect, control, and profit from one's image, name, or likeness.

Exploitation of identity

The different aspects of Rai's personality which she sought to be protected include her name, voice, image, unique style of dialogue delivery and signature.

According to senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, who represented Aishwarya, her identity was rampantly exploited for both commercial and inappropriate reasons.

Also read: Aishwarya Rai turns 50: Hit pair Ash-SRK did just 6 films together

The suit has arrayed as defendants, websites like aishwaryaworld.com, apkpure.com, bollywoodteeshop.com, kashcollectiveco.com, which unauthorisedly sell products with the name and photograph of the actor, said one agency report.

Further, the plea has arrayed as defendants e-commerce platform Etsy, organisation 'Aishwarya Nation Wealth Motivational Speaker, chatbot with AI characters www.jainatorai.com , YouTube channel @NewNWSTamil, @Bollywood_CinemaTV07, Google LLC, Union ministry of electronics and information technology and department of telecommunications.

After Aishwarya, her husband and actor Abhishek Bachchan also moved the Delhi High Court for protection of his personality rights. He also alleged that rogue websites were using his name and image without permission.

Earlier, other senior actors such as Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff have also secured protection of their personality rights in the court in the recent past.

(With Agency inputs)