The Delhi High Court Wednesday in an interim order restrained 16 entities from infringing the personality rights of actor Anil Kapoor while hearing his lawsuit against misuse of his image, name, voice, likeness or other elements of his persona for monetary gains without his consent. A single judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh observed that “fame for a person can come with its own disadvantages” and said Kapoor’s case shows that “reputation and fame can transcend into damage for a person”.Justice Singh said while there can be no doubt that free speech about a well-known person is protected in the form of write-ups, parody, satires, criticism etc, which is genuine, but when the same crosses the line and results in tarnishment, blackening or jeopardising the individual’s personality and elements associated with the individual, it is illegal.“Using a person’s name, voice, dialogue, and image in an illegal manner that too for commercial purposes cannot be permitted. The celebrity’s right of endorsement could in fact be a major source of livelihood for the celebrity. Any form of misuse or commercial use of a celebrity name, voice, persona, or likeness has been shunned by SC in the seminal judgment called the Auto Shankar case,” the HC noted. “The technological tools that are now available make it possible for any unauthorised user to make use of celebrities’ persona, by using such tools including Artificial Intelligence. The celebrity also enjoys the right of privacy and does not wish that his or her image, or voice is portrayed in a dark manner as is being done on porn websites,” the court added.
Justice Singh said Kapoor’s image being morphed along with other actresses is “not merely offensive” to Kapoor alone but also to third-party celebrities and actresses. The Court can’t turn a blind to such misuse of personality’s name and other elements and dilution, tarnishment are all actionable torts which Kapoor would have to be protected against, Justice Singh said. “The creation of ringtone and GIF images for commercial gains is also complete misuse. Under these circumstances court has no doubt in holding that the plaintiff’s (Kapoor) name, likeness, image, and persona deserves to be protected not only for his own sake but also for the sake of his family and friends who would not like to see his image, name and other elements misused especially for such tarnishing and negative use, ” Justice Singh underscored. The court also noted documents submitted by Kapoor’s counsel Pravin Anand pertaining to the misuse of images of other celebrities being used in a manner which is totally offensive to their personalities. The court referred to the image of Mahatma Gandhi with a gun and said such images may constitute satire for some people and would be offensive to society in general. While arguing the matter, Kapoor’s counsel Anand submitted that the expression “jhakaas”, a Marathi slang, was popularised by the actor in Hindi films and as per press reports how he expresses the word is exclusively used by him. Anand claimed that Kapoor popularised this term in the 1980s with his unique style and delivery in various films and public appearances. “What’s interesting is this is not jhakaas alone, it’s the way he says it with a twisted lip,” Anand added to which Justice Singh said this is what the HC has to protect and not the word itself. Anand also referred to a November 2022 interim order passed by the HC in actor Amitabh Bachchan’s lawsuit where the court restrained several persons from violating Bachchan’s “publicity rights” as a celebrity.Anand submitted that Anil Kapoor is one of the most celebrated and acclaimed successful actors in the industry who has appeared in over 100 films, television shows, and web series. He said Kapoor has also endorsed a large variety of products and services and has appeared in several advertisements as well. Anand submitted that his client’s name and persona apart from “having immense commercial value” are to be protected against “misuse and tarnishment on the internet”.