Delhi HC orders takedown of Ajay Devgan deepfakes, upholds Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court today mandated the immediate removal of several deepfake videos of actor Ajay Devgn, including those depicting him in an obscene context with female celebrities. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora issued the order while hearing a suit filed by Devgn to protect his personality rights against unauthorised use of his name, image, and likeness.

Advocate Pravin Anand, representing the actor, focused arguments on the circulation of offensive, AI-generated deepfake content, specifically citing a YouTuber responsible for disseminating obscene videos.

The Court granted the takedown relief for the obscene and deepfake material but, at this stage, refused to order a blanket removal of all other content featuring Devgan’s images. Justice Arora noted that some leeway must be given to fan pages, stating that simple reproduction of photographs could not be taken down on an ex parte basis.

The bench did, however, question why Devgn’s team had not filed a protest with YouTube beforehand regarding the objectionable content, indicating that a pre-filing protest with social media platforms would be required for similar petitions in the future.

The suit also addressed the unauthorised commercial sale of merchandise, including posters, t-shirts, and caps, on platforms like Amazon using Devgn’s name and image. The Court acknowledged that the suit mixed several causes of action and issued summons to the defendants, directing online platforms to provide basic subscriber information within two weeks. The matter is scheduled before the Joint Registrar on December 26.

Devgn’s suit had invoked the Copyright Act to protect his moral rights in his performances and claimed trademark protection for his registered mark, ‘Ajay Devgn,’ citing the deepfakes as a violation of his moral rights by reproducing his performance clips in a derogatory manner.