The Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday ruled in favour of Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya, who had recently sought legal recourse to protect his personality rights, such as name, image, voice and likeness across online platforms.

The actor had sought urgent intervention against websites, social media channels and online sellers allegedly exploiting his identity through pornographic material, AI-generated deepfakes, defamatory content and unauthorised merchandise. Justice Jyoti Singh of the Delhi HC directed multiple defendants to remove the disputed content and comply with the court’s directions within 24 hours of receiving the order.

Bench finds prime facie case in Naga’s favour

Naga Chaitanya had filed a commercial suit seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights, after which the court offered him a shield. The bench reviewed the pleadings and documents placed on record, concluding that Chaitanya had established a prima facie case warranting an ex parte ad interim injunction. It noted that the balance of convenience favoured the actor and that allowing the alleged infringements to continue could inflict damage to his reputation and public image.

The court also kept Chaitanya’s successful acting career in view and recognised that his name, likeness and persona have acquired substantial commercial value through years of professional work in both the Telugu and Hindi film industries.

Deepfakes and AI misuse under judiciary’s radar

In its observations, the HC emphasised that a celebrity’s personality rights extend to the protection of their image, name, likeness and voice, and that these attributes cannot be commercially exploited without consent. It also expressed concern over the surging misuse of AI tools to create fabricated content featuring public personalities. It noted that AI-generated images and video depicting celebrities in inappropriate or misleading situations have the potential to harm reputations seriously while deceiving viewers into believing that the content is authentic.

Justice Singh observed that Chaitanya was entitled to protection against the circulation of pornographic content and manipulated synthetic media linked to his identity.

Ban applies to merchandise, digital platforms

The court also took note of allegations that several entities had been selling products bearing Chaitanya’s image and name without authorisation, potentially creating a false impression of endorsement or association.

As per the bench, the sale of inferior-quality merchandise using a celebrity’s identity could adversely affect the goodwill painstakingly built over years. Pending further proceedings, the HC restrained identified defendants, as well as unknown ‘John Doe’ parties from exploiting or misappropriating any aspect of Chaitanya’s persona for commercial or personal gain.

The prohibition, according to the court’s order, applies to technologies including AI, Generative AI, Machine Learning, deepfakes, AI chatbots and face-morphing tools. Additionally, the court issued orders to websites allegedly hosting pornographic content linked to the actor’s name to remove specified URLs. Additionally, it ordered Google LLC to take down a list of unidentified YouTube videos and shorts alleged to infringe the actor’s personality rights.