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Delhi HC backs Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, rules personality rights breach erodes celebrity dignity
The Court held that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's personality rights were being misused, stressing that such unauthorized endorsements and AI-based manipulations could create public confusion and damage her goodwill.
Accordingly, the Court restrained various defendants from misusing her name, likeness, or images through AI, deepfakes, face morphing, or any similar technology.
The Delhi High Court on September 9 granted interim protection to Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, upholding her publicity and personality rights against unauthorized commercial exploitation and misuse of her image, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Tejas Karia observed that when the identity of a well-known personality is misused without consent, it not only causes financial harm but also undermines their dignity and right to privacy.
"Unauthorized exploitation of an individual's personality may have two facets - violation of their right to protect their attributes from commercial misuse, and violation of their right to privacy, which undermines their dignity," the Court noted, as per the report.
Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing the actress, argued that her morphed and AI-generated images were being circulated, including intimate fake photographs for pornographic purposes.
He added that certain websites and entities were using her likeness without permission to promote merchandise and even fraudulently naming her as a chairperson of a firm called Aishwarya Nation Wealth.
The Court held that Bachchan's personality rights were being misused, stressing that such unauthorized endorsements and AI-based manipulations could create public confusion and damage her goodwill.
"It is clear that the attributes of the Plaintiff's persona, including her name and images, are being misused by employing technological tools, including Artificial Intelligence. This not only causes financial detriment but also harms her dignity, reputation, and goodwill," the Court reportedly said.
Accordingly, the Court restrained various defendants from misusing her name, likeness, or images through AI, deepfakes, face morphing, or any similar technology.
It directed an e-commerce platform and Google to take down the flagged URLs within 72 hours and provide subscriber details to help identify the perpetrators.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was also asked to issue directions of blocking such content.
The interim injunction comes as Bachchan’s husband, actor Abhishek Bachchan, has also approached the High Court seeking protection of his personality rights. His plea is pending before the bench, the report added.
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