Delhi High Court Protects Actor Abhishek Bachchan's Personality Rights; Restrains Unauthorised Use Of His Name, Image Or Voice

The Delhi High Court has passed an interim order protecting the personality rights of Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan by restraining various entities from misusing his image, name, voice or other elements of his persona for monetary gains without his consent or authorization.

Justice Tejas Karia observed that use of technology to depict Bachchan in settings that are misleading, derogatory or inappropriate, intrudes upon the his right to privacy.

“Such misappropriation is further aggravated by the ease with which online content can be disseminated. The Plaintiff being a celebrated personality in the Indian entertainment industry has acquired significant goodwill and reputation for himself. 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, while also causing confusion amongst members of the public regarding the authenticity, endorsement or sponsorship of a product or service by the Plaintiff,” the Court said.

It added that 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 Court said that if an injunction is not granted, it will lead to an irreparable loss or harm to Bachchan and his family, not only financially but also with respect to his right to live with dignity.

Justice Karia passed ad interim ex parte injunction in the actor's suit seeking protection of his personality rights. The suit has been filed against various defendant entities, including john doe (unknown individuals), using Bachchan's personality traits without his consent, for commercial purposes, using various modes including through artificial intelligence and face morphing.

The Court restrained the defendants from violating the actor's Personality Rights or Moral Rights by using or exploiting or misappropriating his name, acronym 'AB', voice; image, likeness, performances and other attributes of his persona for any commercial or personal gain without his consent or authorization.

The direction applies to any content generated through the use of any technology- including but not limited to Artificial Intelligence, Generative Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deepfakes, Face Morphing, on any medium and format.

It further restrained them from creating, sharing, disseminating any product, including clothes, T-shirts, coffee mugs, posters or content including audio-visual content, images, videos etc.

Justice Karia concluded that the actor has established a good prima facie case and the balance of convenience also tilted in his favour.

The Court said that misuse of his name, image, likeness and other elements of his persona clearly constituted infringement as adoption of the same, without his authorization, will inevitably cause confusion and create perception of endorsement by him.

“…it is clear that the attributes of the Plaintiff's persona, including his name, images and signature, are being misused by Defendant Nos. 1 to 14 and 18, without any authorization from the Plaintiff, by employing technological tools, including Artificial Intelligence. These attributes are linked with the Plaintiff's professional work and associations in the course of his career. The unauthorized use of such attributes has the effect of diluting the goodwill and reputation associated with the Plaintiff,” the Court said.

A similar order was passed by the Court, protecting personality rights of his wife and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Title: ABHISHEK BACHCHAN v. THE BOLLYWOOD TEE SHOP & ORS

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1094

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