Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan recently reached the Delhi High Court, asking the court to prevent the misuse of his personality by blocking offensive URLs and asking intermediaries such as YouTube and Instagram to ban unlawful content. The Constitution has guarded the muses of personality as an integral part of Article 21, and there are several laws to prevent any harm to the victim.
A similar petition was earlier filed by Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the wife of Abhishek Bachchan, regarding the protection of her right and illegal use of AI to target the individual. Nipun Saxena, who is an advocate in the Supreme Court, defines personality right to be originating from the Copyright Act, as per which a person has the right over their voice, face, body and any other material related to their existence. Advocate Dhruv Anand, speaking on behalf of Mr Bachchan, explained how a website was using his name to sell products, claiming his endorsement.
The petition also asked the court for a “John Doe” defendant, where the person can protect his right not only against the current violators but also against any potential misuse by an unknown violator in the future. Advocates Dhruv Anand, Pravin Anand, Amit Naik and Madhu Gadodia represented Abhishek Bachchan in the court.
Meanwhile, Aishwarya filed a suit against a website by the name Aishwaryaworld, claiming to be her official website and using her name and pictures without authorisation. She was represented by senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, who stated that such cases are not only a grave violation of a person’s rights but also defamatory and derogatory.
Many actors and celebrities are often targeted by fake profiles and websites that use their names to sell products and lure customers into buying them. A few years back, Mr Amitabh Bachchan had also asked for protection of his personality rights after infringement cases were reported. The need to protect personality rights has become more serious after the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, which makes it easier to mimic a person.
