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The Delhi High Court on Monday passed an interim order protecting the personality rights of actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, restraining various entities from using her images, name, or likeness without authorisation.
The bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, who was due to pass a detailed order, however, said she would not immediately restrict the use of Bachchan's images on movie posters, noting that the copyright for such posters belongs to the film's owner. "How do you claim copyright in the movie posters? Copyright vests in whoever is the owner of the movie not even hurting you. You don't even have any copyright. Let them be here. I'm not persuaded. This is a poster. Let that party be here. We'll hear him out and we'll see. I'm not convinced," Justice Arora observed during the hearing. Justice Arora directed the issuance of blocking orders against websites found to be misusing Bachchan's persona and ordered that the websites and domain name registrars (DNRs) be made parties to the case. "I will issue the injunction... Issue blocking orders with respect to the websites. I will issue directions that you will make websites and DNRs as parties," the judge stated. The Court also granted Bachchan liberty to file an amended plaint within two days, pointing out several clerical and typographical errors in the filing. The matter is now listed for April 16 for further hearing. The order was passed in a suit filed by Bachchan seeking protection of her personality and publicity rights, alleging that her images and persona were being misused to sell merchandise and for illegal commercial purposes. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Bachchan, argued that apart from exploiting her likeness for selling goods, several entities were also creating AI-generated videos and sexually explicit material featuring her. Sethi informed the Court that the first defendant had published morphed images of Bachchan, the second defendant was selling merchandise using her picture, defendants four and five were selling infringing products, and defendant seven, a YouTube channel, had uploaded defamatory content about her. "We don't even know the name of the party who is selling it," he added. This case forms part of a growing judicial trend to safeguard the personality and publicity rights of celebrities in the digital era. Recently, the Delhi High Court extended similar protection to actors Jackie Shroff, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, and filmmaker Karan Johar. In 2023, the Court restrained the misuse of actor Anil Kapoor's name, image, voice, and signature "jhakaas" catchphrase, and in November 2022, it had similarly protected veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan's personality and publicity rights from infringement. (ANI)
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