In a significant order, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday protected the personality rights of actor-turned-Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan to prevent websites and online platforms from using her name, image, dialogues and likeness for commercial gains without her consent. The Samajwadi Party MP joined her husband Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and granddaughter Aaardhya in moving the Delhi High Court for safeguarding their personality rights.
Besides the Bachchan family members, the High Court has already protected the personality rights of other popular figures, including Hrithik Roshan, Kumar Sanu and Karan Johar. Personality rights protect celebrities against unauthorised use of their persona, including the creation of fake content which could cause financial and reputational harm. A bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing Jaya Bachchan’s plea, saying several social media accounts, YouTube channels and websites were misusing her name and persona for commercial gains.
The defendants in the matter included Google, Amazon, eBay and Meta.
Her counsel said that attributes of her persona, including her images, were being misused without any authorisation from her and that merchandise featuring her pictures were being sold. The counsel said that technological tools such as Artificial Intelligence were used to create videos having a likeness to her client.
