Delhi High Court Restrains Unauthorized Use of Abhishek Bachchan's Persona Attributes, Protecting His Goodwill and Reputation

Delhi High Court Restrains Unauthorized Use of Abhishek Bachchan's Persona Attributes, Protecting His Goodwill and Reputation

Introduction

The Delhi High Court has granted an interim injunction in favour of Abhishek Bachchan, restraining unknown entities and various defendants from violating his Personality Rights. The court's decision emphasizes the importance of protecting an individual's dignity, reputation, and goodwill from unauthorized commercial exploitation.

Factual Background

Abhishek Bachchan, a renowned Bollywood actor, film producer, and entrepreneur, has been the victim of unauthorized commercial exploitation of his personal attributes, including his name, image, likeness, voice, signature, and performances. The defendants were using these attributes without any authorization, causing dilution of Abhishek Bachchan's goodwill and reputation.

Procedural Background

Abhishek Bachchan filed a suit against various defendant entities, including unknown individuals (John Doe), for unauthorized use of his personality traits without his consent. The suit sought protection of his personality rights, moral rights, and passing off. The Delhi High Court, after hearing the matter, granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favor of Abhishek Bachchan.

Issues

• Unauthorized Commercial Exploitation: The unauthorized use of Abhishek Bachchan's persona attributes for commercial purposes, causing dilution of his goodwill and reputation.
• Infringement and Confusion: The misuse of Abhishek Bachchan's name, image, signature, likeness, and other elements of his persona, creating confusion among the public regarding endorsement or sponsorship.
• Artificial Intelligence and Deepfakes: The use of advanced technology, including AI-generated videos and deepfakes, to create misleading, derogatory, or inappropriate content featuring Abhishek Bachchan.

Contentions of Parties

Plaintiff's Contention: The plaintiff contended that the defendants were unauthorizedly using his name, image, likeness, and other attributes of his persona for commercial gain, causing irreparable loss and damage to his reputation and goodwill.

Defendants' Contention: No contention was raised by the defendants as the matter was decided ex-parte.

Reasoning and Analysis

The bench of Justice Tejas Karia observed that the unauthorized commercial exploitation of Personality Rights directly impacts the economic interests as well as the dignity of the concerned individual. The court noted that the attributes of Abhishek Bachchan's persona, including his name, images, and signature, were being misused by the defendants without any authorization, causing dilution of his goodwill and reputation.

Implications

The judgment highlights the importance of protecting Personality Rights, particularly in the context of unauthorized commercial exploitation. The court's decision emphasizes the need to safeguard an individual's dignity, reputation, and goodwill from unauthorized use of their persona.

In this case the plaintiff was represented by Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Ameet Naik, Ms. Madhu Gadodia, Mr. Dhruv Anand, Ms. Udita Patro, Ms. Nimrat Singh, Ms. Deevesha Tudekar, Mr. Dhananjay Khanna and Ms. Aayushi Udani, Advocates. Meanwhile the defendant was represented by Ms. Shruttima Ehersa, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Devangini Rai, Ms. Aiswarya Debadarsini, Ms. Diya Viswanath and Ms. Jahanvi Agarwal, Advocates for D-15.