Delhi HC protects Jaya Bachchan's personality rights, passes interim order
What's the story
The Delhi High Court has granted relief to actor and Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan by protecting her personality rights. The court restrained entities from using her image, name, or voice for commercial purposes without her consent. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora stated that she would issue an order against the infringing parties. The bench was hearing a plea filed by Bachchan on Monday.
Plea details
Plea filed against several online platforms
Bachchan's counsel argued that several YouTube channels, social media accounts, and websites were exploiting her name and image for commercial purposes. They said attributes of her persona, including images, were being used without authorization. The counsel also mentioned that artificial intelligence was used to create videos resembling Bachchan's likeness. The defendants in the matter include Google, Amazon, eBay, and Meta.
Copyright discussion
HC not inclined to pass restraining order against Amazon
However, Justice Arora declined to issue a restraining order against a private entity selling posters of Bachchan and her husband, Amitabh Bachchan, from the 1973 film Abhimaan on Amazon. The court noted that the copyright for posters like these belonged to the film's owner. "How do you claim copyright in the movie posters? Copyright vests in whoever is the owner of the movie... not even hurting you," Justice Arora said.
Past orders
Similar orders passed in favor of other actors
The Delhi High Court has previously passed similar orders protecting the personality rights of other Bollywood actors. These include Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Hrithik Roshan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, and filmmaker Karan Johar. In 2023, the court similarly barred the misuse of actor Anil Kapoor's image, name, voice, and his signature "jhakaas" catchphrase.