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Aishwarya Rai gets big relief, Delhi HC rules against unauthorised use of her name, photos
Aishwarya Rai's plea stated that the accused were using AI and deepfake technology to morph her face into sexually explicit videos and images.
Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. During a hearing on Thursday, the high court stated that unauthorised use of her name stands in violation of the actor's right to privacy and dignity.
Justice Tejas Karia restrained several entities from misusing the actress’ name, image and likeness through technological tools, including Artificial Intelligence. The court said such misuse not only causes financial loss to Bachchan but also harms her dignity, reputation and goodwill.
It added that the unauthorized use of her identity can mislead people into believing she supports or endorses products and services.
“Personality rights allow a person to control and protect how their image, name and likeness are used,” the court said, stressing that misuse also affects the right to live with dignity.
An ex parte ad interim injunction was passed in her favour, barring defendants, including unknown parties, from using her name “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan”, acronym “ARB”, image, likeness and other attributes for commercial or personal gain. The order applies to all technologies, including AI, deepfakes, face morphing and machine learning, across any medium.
The court directed Google LLC to take down URLs mentioned in the suit within 72 hours and to provide subscriber information of operators in a sealed format. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was ordered to block the URLs within seven days.
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Highlighting her reputation as one of India’s most celebrated actors and brand ambassadors, the court said any misuse of her persona would dilute her goodwill.
Rai had moved the court seeking protection against online platforms illegally circulating AI-generated pornographic content and misusing her identity. Justice Karia orally hinted at an interim order cautioning the defendants.
Her plea stated that defendants were using AI and deepfake technology to morph her face into sexually explicit videos and images. Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Rai, told the court that “completely unreal intimate photographs” of the actor were being circulated. “Her name and likeness is being used to satisfy someone's sexual desires. This is very unfortunate,” he said. He also pointed out illegal sale of T-shirts and mugs carrying her images.
The defendants named in the suit include websites like aishwaryaworld.com, apkpure.com, bollywoodteeshop.com, kashcollectiveco.com, e-commerce platform Etsy, chatbot site jainatorai.com, YouTube channels, Google LLC, the IT Ministry and the Department of Telecommunications.
