Delhi HC protects Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s personality rights against AI misuse, unauthorised products

The Delhi High Court has issued directions against the unauthorised commercial and online exploitation of Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s identity, observing that courts “cannot turn a blind eye” to unauthorised exploitation of her personality rights.

In an order passed on September 9, Justice Tejas Karia said the unauthorised use of a celebrity’s likeness without consent not only causes commercial harm but also undermines their right to privacy and dignity.

“When the identity of a famous personality is used without their consent or authorization, it may not only lead to commercial detriment to the concerned individual but also impact their right to live with dignity,” Justice Karia said.

The court’s order came on a plea by Ms. Rai Bachchan, highlighting that several websites and unidentified individuals were circulating AI-generated pornographic and intimate visuals by superimposing her face, alongside selling merchandise without her permission.

In the interim order, the court restrained various defendants from creating, sharing or selling any products such as T-shirts, mugs, posters or digital content using the actor’s name, likeness, or persona. This includes content generated through artificial intelligence, deepfake technology, face morphing or any other digital manipulation that could dilute her public image.

The court explained that the unauthorised exploitation of the attributes of an individual’s personality may have two facets – first, violation of their right to protect their personality attributes from being commercially exploited; and second, violation of their right to privacy, which in turn leads to undermining their right to live with dignity.

“The courts in such cases of unauthorized exploitation of one’s personality rights, cannot turn a blind-eye to the same and shall protect the aggrieved parties so as to avert any harm to them resulting from the said unauthorized exploitation,” the judge said.

The same court is also seized of a separate plea by Bollywood actor and Ms. Rai Bachchan’s husband Abhishek Bachchan seeking to protect his publicity and personality rights, over unauthorised use of his image, likeness, persona and fake videos.

Justice Karia took on record the note submitted by Mr. Bachchan’s counsel regarding the defendant entities against whom he was seeking relief. “We will pass an order,” the judge said on Wednesday (September 10).