Abhishek Bachchan follows Aishwarya's lead, files case over personality rights
What's the story
Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan has approached the Delhi High Court to protect his personality rights. The plea alleges that certain rogue websites have been using his name and image without permission. The petition was filed against Bollywood Tee Shop, a website that sells T-shirts featuring Bollywood celebrities. This comes a day after his wife, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, filed a similar case in court.
Legal action
Bachchan's plea seeks injunctions to prevent further infringement
Bachchan's petition, filed against the website and other infringers, argues that the unauthorized use of his persona is part of a larger "trend of online fraud exploiting celebrities' identities." The plea seeks injunctions to prevent the website and other offenders from further infringing on his rights, per LiveMint. It also calls for the removal of URLs that contain infringing content and directions to intermediaries like Google and YouTube to delete unlawful material.
Legal strategy
'John Doe' defendants
Bachchan's plea also seeks the liberty to extend the order to "John Doe" defendants. These are unidentified parties that may host similar infringing material in the future. Dhruv Anand, advocate on record for Bachchan, stated that the platform was misleadingly selling merchandise as if it had his endorsement.
Parallel case
Similar case filed by Rai Bachchan
On Tuesday, Rai Bachchan had also filed a case against aishwaryaworld.com and other infringers. The website falsely claimed to be her "only authorized and official website," according to her advocate Sandeep Sethi. He said that the platform published personal information, unauthorized images, and even sold merchandise such as T-shirts priced up to ₹3,100 and mugs featuring her likeness.