Veteran actor Anil Kapoor received protection for his personality rights after Amitabh Bachchan. The actor has filed a petition with the Delhi High Court asking for his name, voice, signature, and picture rights to be protected.
The Delhi High Court issued an interim John Doe order on Wednesday, September 20, prohibiting social networking sites, e-commerce sites, and the general public from violating Anil Kapoor’s publicity and personality rights. According to the court’s ruling, unapproved platforms are not allowed to exploit Anil Kapoor’s name, voice, image, or conversation in an unlicensed way for profit.
He mentioned hundreds of movies and online series he appeared in, as well as several major accolades, in his plea. His attorneys contended that in addition to having significant business worth, his name and identity should be protected from being used improperly online. He used the sale of t-shirts featuring his photographs, people trespassing on IP addresses bearing his name, and even the use of deep fakes to create pornographic material as examples of misuse.
The court acknowledged that prominence frequently has drawbacks. It read, “While there can be no doubt that free speech about a well-known person is protected in the form of write-ups, news, satire, parody, which is genuine. As well as criticism, which could be genuine. When the same crosses the line and results in tarnishing, blackening, or jeopardizing the individual’s personality, the same would be illegal.”
The court issued a similar ruling in November 2022, defending the celebrity rights of seasoned actor Amitabh Bachchan. The court in this case issued an order prohibiting the unauthorized use of Bachchan’s name, likeness, and picture.
