Shilpa Shetty moves HC to safeguard personality rights amid deepfake concerns

Shilpa Shetty has filed a suit in Bombay High Court seeking protection of her personality rights against 28 entities misusing her likeness for profit.

MUMBAI: Months after Suniel Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Karan Johar approached court over misuse of celebrity likeness, actor Shilpa Shetty has filed a suit in the Bombay High Court seeking protection of her personality rights, including her name, voice, image, signature, likeness and other identifying attributes.

Shilpa Shetty moves HC to safeguard personality rights amid deepfake concerns

Filed on November 25 through advocate Sana Raees Khan, the suit names 28 allegedly unauthorised entities accused of exploiting Shetty’s persona for commercial gain. Shetty has claimed that such misuse is likely to mislead audiences, dilute her reputation and cause confusion about endorsements or associations.

According to the suit, several platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meta and X, have extracted clips from her films and other performances to create GIFs and visual content without permission. It alleges that her performances, voice, likeness and caricatures are being reproduced in a manner that subjects her to ridicule, “unsavoury humour” and reputational harm, violating her moral and statutory rights.

The suit further states that artificial intelligence tools such as machine learning are being used to clone Shetty’s voice, mannerisms and facial expressions, generating manipulated images, audio and videos, including deepfakes, for commercial benefit. Such acts, Shetty argues, constitute misappropriation of her identity and an infringement of her dignity and economic interests.

Citing her “immense popularity in India and abroad”, Shetty has asserted that no individual or entity may imitate, exploit or profit from any facet of her personality without explicit consent.

Arguing that merely blocking accounts or URLs is insufficient, Shetty has sought a dynamic injunction to curb ongoing and future misuse. She has also requested interim orders without notice to the defendants, a decree for damages, and the appointment of a court Receiver to search premises, seize merchandise, invoices, records and other materials linked to the alleged violations.

The matter is expected to be heard in due course.