The Delhi High Court issued an ad-interim injunction safeguarding Bollywood actress Kajol Devgan’s personality and publicity rights. This injunction prohibits unauthorized use of her name, image, and likeness for commercial purposes and mandates the removal of inappropriate content. Justice Jyoti Singh granted interim protection, restraining entities from using Kajol’s attributes for commercial merchandise without her consent.
The court also ordered the immediate removal of objectionable material circulating online under Kajol’s name. It noted that the actress had a prima facie case for safeguarding her personality and publicity rights against unauthorized exploitation. A detailed order will be issued to prevent the misuse of Kajol’s identity traits, including her name, image, voice, and other identifiable features through AI or Deepfake technology.
This interim relief was granted in response to a plea seeking protection against the unauthorized use of Kajol’s personality rights. It aims to prevent the sale of merchandise bearing her image without authorization and the dissemination of morphed, obscene, and defamatory content online. The court emphasized that no entity can exploit the actress’s identity commercially without her approval and that online platforms must promptly address infringing content upon notification.
The case involving Kajol adds to a series of high-profile personalities seeking protection of their personality and publicity rights before the Delhi High Court. Notable figures like Sunil Gavaskar, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (Jr NTR), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, and Raj Shamani have also secured court protection against unauthorized use of their identity, likeness, or AI-generated imitations.
