On Thursday, the Delhi High Court issued an interim order safeguarding the personality rights of Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, restraining defendants from exploiting his likeness, images, or any personal traits without consent.
Presiding over the matter, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora specifically prohibited the use of Devgn’s personality through artificial intelligence, deepfake technology, or any obscene and offensive content.
Advocate Pravin Anand, representing the actor, submitted that the defendants were commercially exploiting Devgn’s persona through merchandise such as caps, stickers, posters (non-film related), and by creating images that depicted him in objectionable or inappropriate scenarios alongside other actors. He also highlighted the misuse of AI and deepfake tools to simulate the actor’s likeness.
The Court noted that while interim relief is being granted, plaintiffs in such matters must first approach social media intermediaries such as YouTube and Google to lodge complaints regarding objectionable content before seeking judicial intervention. Additionally, while obscene and profane material will be ordered to be removed, mere reproduction of images cannot be mandatorily taken down at the interim stage without hearing the concerned parties.
Justice Arora’s order aligns with recent judicial trends, where coordinating benches have protected the personality rights of prominent figures, including “The Art of Living” founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Telugu actor Nagarjuna, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, and film producer Karan Johar. The judge has also extended similar protections to journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani, emphasizing safeguarding individuals against AI-generated or misleading content on digital platforms.
This decision underscores the growing recognition by Indian courts of personality rights in the digital age, particularly against emerging threats posed by AI and deepfake technologies.
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