Delhi HC Orders Takedown of Content Misusing Mohanlal's Identity in 36 Hours

Granting an ex parte ad interim injunction, the Court restrained multiple defendants, including e-commerce websites, social media accounts, and unknown individuals, from directly or indirectly exploiting the actor's persona for commercial or personal gain. The Court made it clear that such misuse, including through Artificial Intelligence, deepfakes, and other digital tools, violates the plaintiff's personality and publicity rights.

The Court further prohibited online platforms from selling or facilitating the sale of merchandise such as T-shirts, posters, and related products bearing Mohanlal's identity, observing that such activities falsely imply endorsement and amount to passing off. It also restrained various social media users from publishing or circulating any content that exploits the actor's persona or harms his reputation, including objectionable or AI-generated material.

To ensure immediate enforcement, the Court directed e-commerce platforms (Defendants 2-14) to take down infringing links listed in Annexure-A within 36 hours. Similarly, specific social media accounts (Defendants 20-24 and 26-30) and YouTube-related defendants (25 and 31-35) were ordered to remove identified content listed in Annexures B and C, respectively, within the same timeframe. A separate direction was issued to a user on X (Defendant 36) to remove the infringing post listed in Annexure-D within 36 hours.

Importantly, the Court clarified that if individual users fail to comply with these directions, intermediary platforms such as Meta, Google, and X would be obligated to take down the content upon intimation by the plaintiff within 36 hours.

In addition, the Court directed these platforms to furnish Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) and IP logs of the concerned accounts to the plaintiff within a specified period, thereby enabling identification of the individuals responsible for the infringing activities.

Observing that the plaintiff had made out a prima facie case, the Court noted that unauthorised commercial exploitation of a celebrity's persona can cause irreparable harm to reputation and goodwill. It emphasised the need to protect such rights, particularly in the era of rapidly advancing digital and AI technologies.

- ANI