Delhi High Court Grants Injunction Protecting Abhishek Bachchan From Unauthorized AI Commercial Exploitation Of Persona

Delhi High Court Grants Injunction Protecting Abhishek Bachchan From Unauthorized AI Commercial Exploitation Of Persona

In a significant judicial development for the protection of celebrity rights in the digital age, the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favor of actor Abhishek Bachchan. Presided over by Justice Tejas Karia, the court acted to restrain various entities from infringing upon the plaintiff’s personality and publicity rights, particularly through the unauthorized use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology.

The Battle Over Persona Rights

The lawsuit arises from the widespread, unauthorized commercial exploitation of Abhishek Bachchan’s name, image, likeness, and signature by multiple online platforms. These entities, including e-commerce sites and YouTube channels, were allegedly using the actor's identity to sell merchandise like T-shirts, stickers, and posters, or creating disparaging or misleading AI-generated content. The plaintiff contended that this not only violated his personality rights but also threatened his goodwill, reputation, and livelihood.

Arguments for Protection

Counsel for the plaintiff emphasized that the actor maintains a highly selective approach to brand endorsements to preserve the "trust" and "quality" associated with his public persona. The unauthorized use of his identity by various defendants, including AI-driven YouTube channels creating "unsavoury" content, was presented as a direct threat to his privacy and dignity. The plaintiff argued that his persona holds distinct commercial value, and its unauthorized appropriation amounts to passing off and infringement of his performer’s rights.

Judicial Analysis and Precedents

Justice Tejas Karia drew upon established legal precedents to underscore the necessity of judicial intervention. The court referenced * Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India * and * Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi *, reinforcing that a celebrity’s right to their own persona is a protected interest that cannot be exploited for commercial gain without explicit consent. The court noted that the advent of sophisticated technologies like Generative AI makes such misappropriation easier, thereby necessitating stricter protection of an individual's right to live with dignity.

Key Observations

The court highlighted the following pivotal reasoning in its order:

• "The unauthorized commercial exploitation of Personality Rights directly impacts the economic interests as well as the dignity of the concerned individual, potentially causing irreversible injury to their reputation and goodwill."
• "The use of technology to depict the Plaintiff in settings that are misleading, derogatory or inappropriate, intrudes upon the Plaintiff’s right to privacy."
• "Any infringement of the Plaintiff’s Personality Rights will lead to dilution of the Plaintiff’s reputation and goodwill that he has garnered over the years."

The Court’s Decision

The High Court has issued a comprehensive injunction, restraining the defendants from using, exploiting, or misappropriating the plaintiff’s name, voice, image, or likeness via any technology, including AI and machine learning. Furthermore, the court directed the offending platforms to disable the specific URLs identified in the suit within 72 hours. Google LLC and other relevant entities were ordered to provide basic subscriber information to help identify the operators of these infringing channels. This ruling serves as a robust shield for public figures against the digital hijacking of their identities and sets a clear precedent for the legal consequences of unauthorized AI-driven content generation. The matter is next listed for hearing on January 15, 2026.