Vijay Deverakonda moves Delhi HC to protect personality rights

Actor Vijay Deverakonda has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights against unauthorised use of his name and image in fake endorsements and AI-generated content, following similar actions by other celebrities.

Actor Seeks Protection from Unauthorised Use of Persona

Actor Vijay Deverakonda has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights, alleging unauthorised use of his name, image and other attributes of his persona, including through fake endorsements and impersonation.

The plea came up for a brief hearing before Justice Vikas Mahajan, who said the court would pass an order on Deverakonda’s application seeking an interim injunction.

Details of the Plea

Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar, appearing for Deverakonda, submitted that the actor had been aggrieved by instances of fake endorsements and impersonation, with several individuals allegedly posing as his agents.

The counsel also drew the court’s attention to the alleged commercial exploitation of Deverakonda’s identity through merchandise using his images and other personality traits.

The plea raises concerns over AI-generated content and digital manipulation of the actor’s photographs. It also seeks removal of allegedly obscene and offensive material using abusive or foul language in connection with his persona.

Sukumar informed the court that after the suit was filed and served, some of the allegedly offending URLs had been taken down.

The High Court issued summons in the suit and notice on Deverakonda’s application seeking interim injunction. The court observed that it would pass an order on the interim plea.

A Growing Trend in Indian Courts

The proceedings have come amid a growing body of litigation before Indian courts concerning the protection of personality and publicity rights of actors, sportspersons, public figures and other well-known personalities.

The Delhi High Court has previously granted protection to actor Amitabh Bachchan against unauthorised exploitation of his name, image, voice and other attributes of his personality.

The court has also protected Anil Kapoor’s personality rights, including his name, image, likeness, voice and distinctive expressions.

Delhi High Court has dealt with similar claims involving several other prominent personalities, including actors Tabu, Rajinikanth, Jackie Shroff, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol Devgan, R Madhavan and NTR Jr, as well as cricketers Abhishek Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Sunil Gavaskar.

Personality-rights protection has also been sought or granted in cases involving singer Arijit Singh, Sonu Nigam and Jubin Nautiyal, entrepreneur Aman Gupta, spiritual preacher Aniruddhacharya, and public figures including Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.

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