The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to veteran Bollywood actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, safeguarding her personality rights against misuse in the digital realm, including the rising threats of AI and deepfakes. Justice Manmeet Pritam Arora issued a series of injunctions on Monday against websites, e-commerce platforms, and social media accounts found to be commercially exploiting her name, image, likeness, or voice without her consent.
Bachchan's legal team, led by Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, argued that her image was being misused through the sale of unauthorized merchandise and the creation of AI-generated videos that distorted her personality. They highlighted instances of YouTube channels and social media accounts profiting from her likeness and creating sexually explicit material using AI. Bachchan's suit included Google, YouTube, Meta, Amazon, and eBay, along with several social media accounts and websites allegedly involved in the unauthorized commercial exploitation of her identity.
The court agreed that the unauthorized use of Bachchan's persona was misleading the public and commercially exploiting her fame. Justice Arora emphasized the importance of protecting an individual's image and reputation as part of their right to privacy and dignity. The injunctions restrain these entities from selling or promoting products using her name or AI-generated visuals. The court also directed that website owners and domain name registrars (DNRs) be formally added as parties to the case.
However, the court did not immediately pass orders against a seller on Amazon offering posters from the 1973 film Abhimaan, starring Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan. Justice Arora noted that the copyright for the film likely belonged to its producer. While Senior Advocate Sethi argued that copyright cannot override personality rights and that the poster being sold was not an original print, the court found that the matter was "not as brazen as other material" and would revisit the issue with more details.
This ruling marks Jaya Bachchan as the fourth member of the Bachchan family to receive such protection. Previously, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan have also secured similar injunctions from the Delhi High Court to prevent unauthorized commercial use of their identities. In recent times, the Delhi High Court has extended similar protective injunctions to other high-profile actors and filmmakers, including Jackie Shroff, Hrithik Roshan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Karan Johar and Anil Kapoor.
The Delhi High Court's decision comes amid growing concerns about the misuse of AI and deepfake technology. The Supreme Court has also acknowledged the increasing digital threats, with Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai noting that even judges have become targets of AI-generated fake content. This has led to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking regulation of Generative AI (GenAI) in India's judicial system, highlighting the potential risks of unregulated AI systems that could generate fabricated data or "hallucinated" case laws that could distort legal proceedings. The PIL distinguishes between traditional AI and GenAI, emphasizing the latter's ability to create new content, which can introduce ambiguity and false precedents in judicial decisions.
