As AI recreates celebrity voices, faces, and personas, Bollywood stars fight legal battles to protect their personality rights. Courts are increasingly stepping in to curb deepfakes, unauthorized endorsements, and digital exploitation of celebrity identities.
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NEW DELHI: The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the entertainment industry, particularly Bollywood, in unprecedented ways. From AI-generated deepfakes to digitally recreated actors, technology now allows filmmakers and creators to replicate a celebrity’s voice, appearance, and persona without their physical presence. While this opens new creative avenues, it also raises serious legal and ethical questions about personality rights, the right of an individual, especially a public figure, to control the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness.
As AI blurs the line between reality and digital creation, Bollywood faces a critical legal battle to protect celebrity identities, privacy, and legacy. Let’s explore the emerging developments in personality rights as a facet of intellectual property law, highlighting the legal drawbacks and ambiguities in their protection.
What Are Personality Rights?
Personality rights, also known as the right of publicity, are legal protections that safeguard an individual’s personal identity and reputation. These rights allow individuals, particularly celebrities, to control the commercial use of their name, image, voice, likeness, and other identifiable traits, including use in endorsements, advertisements, and merchandise. They also protect defamation and unauthorized exploitation of one’s persona.
The importance of personality rights has grown in India with the rise of celebrity culture and the pervasive influence of the media. A landmark example is the Delhi High Court’s decision in Jackie Shroff v. The Peppy Stores & Ors., CS(COMM) 3892024, where the court restrained e-commerce platforms, AI chatbots, and social media accounts from using the actor’s name, image, or voice without consent. This ruling underlines the growing importance of protecting an individual’s identity and reputation in the digital era.
Personality rights in India are recognized through a combination of privacy laws, copyright, and the emerging concept of publicity rights, although legislation remains limited. Globally, these rights often encompass two aspects:
- Right to Privacy – Protection against unwelcome intrusion into an individual’s personal life.
- Right to Publicity – Protection against unauthorized commercial use of a person’s likeness or persona.
In practice, courts may treat these as distinct rights or as a combined concept, depending on the facts of each case. Celebrities in India increasingly rely on these rights to prevent misuse of their persona, particularly in the context of digital technologies and social media.
The Rise of AI in Entertainment
The entertainment industry is undergoing a digital revolution, driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI tools now enable the creation of deepfakes, voice cloning, and virtual avatars, which can replicate the likeness, voice, and performances of actors with high accuracy. While these technologies offer exciting creative opportunities, they also present significant legal and ethical challenges for personality rights.
Key concerns include:
- Unauthorized Use: AI can replicate a celebrity’s image or voice without consent, potentially for commercial purposes or deceptive content.
- Digital Deception: AI-generated content can mislead audiences or harm a celebrity’s reputation.
- Economic Exploitation: Unauthorized AI recreations can undermine endorsement deals or other commercial opportunities.
- Blurred Legal Boundaries: Current laws struggle to define the limits of AI-generated works, especially regarding transformative use versus infringement.
Indian court cases illustrate these challenges:
- Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP & Ors. – The Bombay High Court held that AI-generated voice tools violated the singer’s personality rights.
- Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store – The Delhi High Court restrained the creation of an AI chatbot mimicking a Bollywood actor.
- Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India & Ors. – The court recognized that deepfakes and merchandise exploiting the actor’s persona violated his personality rights.
- Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi – The Delhi High Court issued comprehensive protection against unauthorized AI use of the actor’s identity.
These cases underscore the urgent need for robust legal frameworks, ethical AI practices, and clear consent mechanisms to protect personality rights in the digital age. AI in entertainment is no longer just a technological innovation; it is a legal and ethical battleground for celebrities, creators, and the broader industry.
Bollywood Cases on AI Misuse
Several incidents in recent years highlight Bollywood’s struggle with AI-related disputes:
- Deepfake Clips of Popular Actors: Unlicensed videos and promotional content featuring AI-generated versions of stars have circulated online, leading to calls for stronger legal protections.
- Digital Resurrection in Films: Producers have experimented with AI to recreate deceased actors or digitally de-age stars. While sometimes legally cleared, these cases raise questions of consent and moral rights.
- Unauthorized Endorsements: AI-generated versions of celebrities used in advertisements without permission have led to lawsuits alleging violation of personality rights.
Several prominent Bollywood personalities have recently approached the Delhi High Court to protect their personality rights against unauthorized use of their name, image, voice, and likeness across digital platforms, merchandise, and AI-generated content.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan:
The Court granted interim relief against e-commerce platforms, websites, and unknown entities misusing her identity, including morphed and obscene AI-generated content. Justice Tejas Karia emphasized that such unauthorized use not only causes commercial harm but also undermines a celebrity’s dignity and autonomy. Directions included:
- Google and other platforms to remove infringing URLs within 72 hours.
- Blocking of URLs by the Ministry of Electronics & IT and the Department of Telecommunications.
- Prohibition on creating or sharing content via AI, deepfakes, or face-morphing tools that infringe her persona.
Akkineni Nagarjuna:
The Court restrained third parties from exploiting the actor’s name, image, likeness, and persona online and on social media, noting that unauthorized use creates public confusion about endorsement or affiliation and risks harming the actor’s reputation and economic interests. The Court also ordered the blocking of infringing URLs, including AI-generated content.
Karan Johar:
Filmmaker Karan Johar filed a plea alleging misuse of his identity for online fundraising and social media content. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora clarified that not all fan pages or memes can be blocked but indicated that take-down orders could be issued for specific infringing pages identified by the plaintiff.
Abhishek Bachchan:
Abhishek Bachchan sought protection against unauthorized online use of his image, voice, and performances. Justice Tejas Karia suggested Google could remove infringing links once the plaintiff provides specific URLs, emphasizing that orders must be platform- and defendant-specific.
Asha Bhosle:
The Bombay High Court granted playback singer Asha Bhosle temporary relief, restraining AI platforms, online marketplaces, and sellers from unauthorized use of her voice, image, likeness, and other personal attributes. The court prohibited cloning her voice or exploiting her persona via AI, generative tools, or merchandise without consent. Platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and YouTube were ordered to remove infringing content and provide details of infringing parties for further legal action. Justice Arif S Doctor emphasized that such misuse violates personality and publicity rights and threatens her reputation and goodwill built over an 82-year career.
Legislative Protection of Personality Rights in India
India does not have a specific statute dedicated to personality rights, but protection is derived from multiple legal sources:
- Constitution of India: Articles 19(1)(a) (freedom of expression) and 21 (right to life and dignity) form the foundation for protecting personal identity and autonomy.
- Copyright Act, 1957: Sections 38, 38A, 38B, and 57 grant performers moral rights, attribution, and integrity protections, which prevent misrepresentation or unauthorized exploitation of performances. Photographs and artistic works are protected if original. Unauthorized use of copyrighted material in deepfakes can also constitute infringement under Section 51.
- Trademark Act, 1999: Celebrities can register names as trademarks, subject to distinctiveness and consent requirements (Section 14). Unauthorized use of a persona can also be challenged under the principle of passing off.
- Information Technology Act, 2000: Sections 66D and 66E address impersonation, fraud, and privacy violations arising from AI-generated content, including morphed images or synthetic voices.
Judicial Recognition and Past Cases
Indian courts have gradually shaped personality rights through case law:
- Phoolan Devi v. Bandit Queen (1995): Recognized the right to privacy and restricted unauthorized commercial use of her life story.
- ICC Development (International) Ltd. v. Arvee Enterprises (2003): Explicitly recognized publicity rights in India.
- Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v. Celebrities: Limited personality rights to celebrities, introducing ambiguities regarding scope and duration.
- Recent Cases:
- Jackie Shroff v. Peppy Stores (2024): Interim injunction against unauthorized use of name, image, or voice.
- Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India (2023): Extended personality rights to mannerisms, gestures, and dialogue delivery.
- Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi (2022): Comprehensive injunction protecting his identity against unauthorized use.
Courts balance freedom of expression with the commercial and moral rights of individuals, particularly celebrities.
Scope of Protection
Personality rights encompass:
- Right to Publicity: Controls commercial use of name, image, likeness, and persona, preventing unauthorized endorsements and exploitation.
- Right to Identity: Protects individuals from misappropriation, false endorsements, and identity theft, including unique mannerisms, catchphrases, and other distinctive traits.
Courts recognize that unauthorized use of a celebrity’s persona can cause reputational harm and economic losses, highlighting the commercial value of personal identity in endorsements and branding.
What is Not Protected
- Parody and Satire: Section 52 of the Copyright Act and judicial precedents allow criticism, reviews, and humorous adaptations, provided they do not mislead or harm reputation.
- Example: Jackie Shroff “Thug Life” video – Court acknowledged it as a humorous tribute, protecting creative freedom while balancing personality rights.
Impact of AI on Personality Rights
The rise of deepfakes and AI-generated content poses new challenges:
- AI can replicate voices, faces, and mannerisms without consent.
- Legal accountability for creators and platforms is critical.
- Current Indian laws, including the IT Act, offer partial remedies, but comprehensive legislation and ethical frameworks are needed to govern AI usage.
Practical Measures and Legal Remedies
- Regular Monitoring: Track unauthorized use of names, images, or performances across online platforms.
- Transparency in Endorsements: Clearly label authorized endorsements and issue clarifications for misleading content.
- Trademark Registration: Register names and marks to strengthen legal claims against misuse.
- Social Media Intermediaries: Platforms must remove prohibited content under MeitY guidelines and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics) Rules, 2021.
- Legal Action: File injunctions for copyright infringement, passing off, or violations under Sections 66D and 66E of the IT Act to prevent further dissemination of unauthorized content.
Conclusion
The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence has transformed Bollywood, creating both innovative opportunities and complex legal challenges for personality rights. Celebrities’ names, images, voices, and mannerisms have become valuable assets, but AI-generated deepfakes, unauthorized endorsements, and digital impersonations threaten their identity, reputation, and commercial interests.
While Indian courts have gradually recognized personality and publicity rights through landmark judgments, the legal framework remains fragmented, with protections scattered across constitutional law, copyright, trademark, and the IT Act. Current laws provide partial remedies, but the growth of AI-driven technologies highlights the urgent need for specific legislation and ethical guidelines to safeguard identity, dignity, and commercial value.
In practice, celebrities and public figures must proactively protect their persona through monitoring, trademark registration, and prompt legal action, while regulators and courts must evolve to balance freedom of expression with protection against unauthorized exploitation. Ultimately, personality rights in India are poised to emerge as a distinct facet of intellectual property law, addressing the unique challenges posed by the digital and AI era.
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