Delhi HC Protects Kajol's Image from AI, Deepfake Misuse

Justice Jyoti Singh restrained several defendants from using her name, image, voice, or likeness for commercial purposes, including selling merchandise, without her permission.

The Court also said that her personality rights must be protected from misuse through artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. It indicated that further orders would ensure that no one uses her identity in manipulated digital content.

In addition, the Court directed various defendants to remove pornographic and obscene material published online against the actress. Advocate Pravin Anand appeared on behalf of Kajol Devgan.

Recently, several renowned personalities from different fields, such as the film industry, sports, politics, the legal field, and social media, have moved the Delhi High Court to protect their personality rights.

Kajol's petition comes at a time when the Delhi High Court is expanding jurisprudence around personality rights, particularly in relation to digital misuse.

The Court has recently granted strong protection to public figures such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, and digital creator Raj Shamani. These decisions reaffirm that individuals retain exclusive control over the commercial and digital use of their persona.

At the same time, the Court has expressed concern about emerging threats such as deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic visuals, noting that they infringe not only upon publicity rights but also upon an individual's dignity and privacy, while reinforcing that satire, artistic expression, commentary, and news reporting must remain unaffected.

- ANI