Actor Jackie Shroff filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to protect his personality and publicity rights against offensive memes circulating online. Shroff seeks legal remedies to prevent the unauthorized use of his image and name in derogatory contexts, emphasizing respect for his professional reputation. This move highlights the ongoing challenges celebrities face in managing their public image in the digital age.
New Delhi: Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff took legal action by approaching the Delhi High Court to prevent various entities, including firms, social media channels, AI apps, and GIF making platforms, from using his name, voice, image, or any other aspect of his identity without his consent.
Justice Sanjeev Narula presided over the case and issued summons to the defendants.
The court scheduled to hear the matter on May 15 and consider the issue of interim injunction. Shroff’s lawyer, Advocate Pravin Anand, informed the court that offensive memes and distorted uses of Shroff’s images and voice have been created without his authorization. Furthermore, it revealed that pornographic material has been generated using Shroff’s persona in certain instances.
Anand clarified that,
“Shroff’s intention is not to restrict parody or satire, but rather to seek an injunction against merchandising and defamatory or distorted uses of his personality.”
In his plea, Shroff requested protection for the names “Jackie Shroff,” “Jackie,” “Jaggu Dada,” and “Bhidu,” stating that “his attributes cannot be used without his permission on any platform.” He also sought a directive for the Department of Technology and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) to remove all links and websites that unlawfully infringe upon his personality rights.
Shroff’s petition aims to safeguard his voice, image, likeness, and other distinctive elements of his persona. He argues that unauthorized use of such elements by third parties likely to cause confusion and deception among the public.
Shroff claimed,
“Various social media companies, stores, social media handles, and AI tools are using his attributes without authorization, profiting from such unauthorized use, and thereby tarnishing his reputation.”
His lawsuit includes Google-owned Tenor, another GIF making company called Giphy, and AI platforms as defendants. Shroff also requested an injunction against AI tools and platforms utilizing his attributes to create, train, and monetize customized AI personalities.
Shroff argued in his lawsuit,
“Moreover, due to their unique qualities, elements such as my name, voice, image, mannerisms, and other aspects of my persona hold significant commercial value. Unauthorized use of these elements by any party can lead to public confusion and misrepresentation regarding association or sponsorship with me.”
Shroff argued that using any aspect of his persona without his explicit consent for commercial purposes should be restricted, not only based on traditional publicity rights but also under the tort of dilution, specifically ,not only relying on conventional publicity rights but also under the legal concept of dilution, particularly in cases of degradation.
He stated,
“This becomes more severe when the Defendants aim for commercial gain. In such instances, the Plaintiff’s identity is utilized in a negative and unpleasant way, damaging his reputation and subjecting him to ridicule, thus tarnishing his image.”
Jackie Shroff represented by advocates Pravin Anand, Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Dhruv Anand, and Udita from the law firm Anand and Naik.
Read Also: Delhi HC protects Anil Kapoor’s personality rights
In 2022, the High Court issued a temporary order prohibiting individuals at large from infringing upon the personality and publicity rights of renowned Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Bachchan approached the High Court seeking a comprehensive order to safeguard his name, image, voice, or any other identifiable characteristics without his explicit consent. Similarly, actor Anil Kapoor also received a comparable order in a case he filed.
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