Delhi HC to protect boAt's Aman Gupta's personality rights: Report

The Delhi High Court indicated it will pass an interim order protecting the personality rights of boAt co-founder Aman Gupta after his counsel reported misuse of his name, image, and trademark in fake endorsements and other online content.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday indicated that it would pass an interim order protecting the personality rights of Businessman Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt Lifestyle and judge on Shark Tank India. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed, "We will pass an order," after hearing submissions in the matter.

Arguments in Court

Senior Advocate Diya Kapur, appearing for Gupta, told the Court that his name, image and trademark were being used without permission across fake endorsements, merchandise sales, event booking platforms, AI chatbots and objectionable online content. Counsel appearing for Google submitted that while certain infringing content could be removed, taking down memes and harmless content may not always be feasible. The Court, however, clarified that not every post would require removal while signalling interim relief in Gupta's favour.

Court's Stance on Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court has, in a series of judgments, recognised personality rights as part of the right to privacy and dignity protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court has repeatedly held that a person's name, voice, image, likeness and mannerisms cannot be commercially exploited without consent, particularly in cases involving AI-generated deepfakes, fake endorsements, misleading websites and unauthorised merchandise.

Precedents and Past Cases

Over the years, the High Court has granted protection to several public personalities, including Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Raj Shamani, Amitabh Bachchan, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Jubin Nautiyal, Pawan Kalyan, Sunil Gavaskar, Kajol, R. Madhavan, N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Karan Johar. (ANI)

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