Kamal Ghorui
Kartik Aaryan had filed a plea for the protection of his personality rights after many celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kumar Sanu, Karan Johar, Salman Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Nagarjuna have been granted the same. As per the latest update on the plea filed by Kartik, on Wednesday, Bombay High Court indicated that it would direct the removal of online content violating the personality rights of the actor, including the unauthorised commercial use of his name and image across digital platforms. Justice Sharmila Deshmukh stated that she would pass an appropriate order in this regard.According to Bar and Bench, the observation came after Aaryan’s legal representative, Senior Counsel Birendra Saraf, brought to the court’s attention multiple instances of alleged misuse. He highlighted that some content was not only scandalous but also involved commercial exploitation, such as the sale of merchandise using the actor’s identity. “I want that order which your Ladyship has considered earlier, that upon my pointing out to them, they will remove it. I don’t want them to do a suo motu enquiry or something. I will keep informing them whatever I come to know and they can remove it. He is a prominent actor, even his name has a trademark. There are images being used to sell merchandise. There is artificial intelligence created videos. Some of these are quite bad and some of them are just affecting his personality. Some of them are scandalous,” Saraf said.
Taking note of these submissions, Justice Deshmukh responded that she would pass suitable orders in favour of Aaryan.In his lawsuit, Aaryan has named several Indian and international e-commerce and social media platforms, along with unidentified “John Doe” entities, accusing them of misusing his persona online. The plea claims that his name, likeness, and image have been used without consent in advertisements, merchandise, and other digital formats, thereby infringing upon his publicity and privacy rights.The actor has sought a permanent injunction to restrain the defendants from using his photographs, videos, voice, or any other identifiable attributes for commercial purposes, including those generated through artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies. He has also requested directions for online intermediaries and authorities to remove such content and reveal the identities of those responsible.Apart from Saraf, advocates Ameet Naik and Madhu Gadodia appeared on behalf of Aaryan.
