New Delhi, April 29 Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against the alleged misuse of his name, image, and likeness through artificial intelligence-generated content, unauthorised merchandise, and pornographic material circulating online.
The matter came up for hearing before Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, who heard submissions on behalf of the actor in his plea seeking interim protection.
Appearing for Kapoor, senior advocate Pravin Anand submitted that multiple defendants were engaged in unauthorised use of the actor’s name, photographs, likeness, and other personality attributes for commercial gain, including through the sale of merchandise and the dissemination of manipulated digital content without his consent.
The Delhi High Court was informed that apart from unauthorised merchandise, several online entities were allegedly circulating sexually explicit material, pornographic content, and AI-generated deepfakes involving Kapoor.
The senior counsel argued that the misuse went far beyond humour or satire, asserting that the impugned material included morphed and fabricated visuals designed to commercially exploit and distort Kapoor’s public image.
He referred to content in which Kapoor’s face had allegedly been morphed with that of an animal, while another image purportedly depicted him selling golgappas.
At this stage, Justice Gedela observed that in the case of public figures, not every form of content could be directed to be taken down unless it was derogatory or defamatory.
"When a person is in public glare, a lot of things happen. We can understand if things are disparaging or defamatory. But everything cannot come under that," he remarked.
During the proceedings, counsel appearing for Google LLC and other defendants were also heard.
Justice Gedela said that a detailed order would be passed on Kapoor’s plea for interim protection.
The Arjun Kapoor case adds to a growing list of high-profile personalities invoking their personality and publicity rights before the Delhi High Court. In recent months, former cricketer and current head coach Gautam Gambhir, former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, spiritual leader and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, kathavachak Aniruddhacharya Maharaj, actors Allu Arjun, Nagarjuna, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Abhishek Bachchan, singer Jubin Nautiyal, film-maker Karan Johar, and podcaster Raj Shamani have secured court protection against the unauthorised use of their identity, likeness, or AI-generated imitations.
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