The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn interim protection over his personality rights, restraining several websites and online platforms from using his name, images, or artificial-intelligence-generated content for commercial gain without his consent.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the interim directions while hearing Devgn’s plea alleging unauthorised commercial exploitation of his identity and misuse of AI and deepfake technology. The court said a detailed order will follow.
Representing Devgn, advocate Pravin Anand told the court that the defendants were producing and selling merchandise—such as caps, stickers, and posters—impersonating the actor. He also pointed out online images portraying Devgn with other celebrities in an unpleasant and objectionable manner.
The bench sought clarification on whether Devgn’s team had first lodged complaints with YouTube and Google regarding the objectionable content circulating on their platforms. When informed that no such protest had been made, the court said it would record in its order that plaintiffs must approach social media intermediaries before seeking court intervention.
Justice Arora said she would direct the removal of obscene and profane content uploaded online but added that mere reproductions of images could not be taken down at this stage without hearing all concerned parties.
The court also issued summons to multiple defendants named in the suit.
Devgn’s lawsuit argues that the unauthorised use of his name, likeness, image, voice and AI-generated explicit content amounts to misappropriation of personality rights for commercial benefit. Personality rights, or right to publicity, entitle an individual to control, protect and monetise the use of their identity.
The court’s intervention comes amid a flurry of similar petitions by public figures. In recent months, actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, filmmaker Karan Johar, singer Kumar Sanu, Telugu star Akkineni Nagarjuna, Art of Living founder Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani have all secured interim protection from the Delhi High Court over misuse of their personality traits online.
