Delhi HC backs Jaya Bachchan in fight against AI misuse and fake merch, protects personality rights

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim protection to veteran actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, directing a series of injunctions against websites, e-commerce platforms and social media accounts found misusing her name, image and likeness for commercial purposes without consent, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Arora passed the order while hearing Bachchan’s plea seeking protection of her personality rights, a legal safeguard against the unauthorised use of an individual’s persona, image or voice for profit. The Court restrained infringing entities from selling or promoting products using her name or AI-generated visuals.

Bachchan had named Google, YouTube, Meta, Amazon and eBay among the defendants, alongside multiple social media accounts and websites allegedly engaged in the unauthorised commercial exploitation of her identity.

Appearing on her behalf, Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi highlighted the growing misuse of Bachchan’s image online, pointing to YouTube channels and social media handles selling merchandise featuring her likeness and AI-generated videos that distorted her personality.

“The right to one’s image and reputation is a part of the right to privacy and dignity,” Sethi argued, stressing that these unauthorised uses were misleading the public and commercially exploiting her fame.

While Justice Arora agreed to issue injunctions against most infringing entities, the Court declined to pass immediate orders against a seller on Amazon offering posters from Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan’s 1973 film Abhimaan. The judge observed that the copyright in the film likely belongs to its producer, remarking, “This is not even hurting you. You don’t have any copyright in this.”

Sethi, however, contended that copyright cannot override personality rights, arguing that the poster being sold was not an original print. The Court, while acknowledging the concern, maintained that it was “not as brazen as other material” and would revisit the issue once more details were submitted.

Jaya Bachchan becomes the fourth member of the Bachchan family to secure legal protection over the misuse of their image and personality. Earlier, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan had all obtained similar injunctions from the Delhi High Court to prevent unauthorised commercial use of their identities.