New Delhi, 22 Dec

The Delhi High Court on Monday protected the personality rights of Bollywood actor 'R Madhavan' and likeness.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora also barred the use of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology to exploit the actor’s persona and directed the takedown of obscene content circulated online. The court said a detailed interim order would follow.

“Issue injunction qua sale of merchandise qua defendants 1, 3 and 4 of the list and qua defendant 2 on the ground of obscenity,” the court said.

Senior advocate Swathi Sukumar, appearing for Madhavan, submitted that one of the defendants had created a fake trailer titled Kesari 3, falsely projecting an upcoming film featuring the actor, using AI-generated and deepfake content. She said the actor had first approached social media platforms to remove the infringing material before moving court.

The submission came in light of the court’s recent view that individuals seeking urgent takedown of objectionable online content must initially approach the platforms concerned before seeking judicial intervention.

Madhavan’s suit alleges misappropriation of his name, image, likeness, persona and voice for commercial gain without consent. The right to publicity—also known as personality rights allows individuals to control and profit from the commercial use of their identity.

The court also heard similar pleas filed by Telugu actor NTR Junior and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, and said detailed interim orders would be passed.

In recent months, several public figures including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Kumar Sanu, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudhir Chaudhary and Raj Shamani have secured interim relief from the high court to protect their personality and publicity rights.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan and former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar have also moved the Delhi High Court seeking similar protection.