Delhi High Court restrains unauthorized use of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s name, image, and personality traits
The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte interim injunction in favour of actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, restraining defendants from unauthorized use of her name, image, likeness, and persona through websites, merchandise, and AI-generated content.
Introduction
The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte interim injunction in favour of actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, restraining defendants from unauthorized use of her name, image, likeness, and persona through websites, merchandise, and AI-generated content.
Factual Background
The plaintiff, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, filed a suit (CS(COMM) 956/2025: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.com & Ors.) seeking permanent injunction against infringement of copyright, performer’s rights, personality rights, passing off, and unfair competition.
Defendants were allegedly running websites falsely projecting themselves as her official portals, selling unauthorized merchandise, and using AI tools (including deepfakes and chatbots) to impersonate her in objectionable contexts.
Respondent’s Case
Appearing before Justice Tejas Karia, Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, assisted by Advocates Pravin Anand, Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia, Dhruv Anand, Udita Patro, Nimrat Singh, Deevesha Tudekar, Dhananjay Khanna, Aayushi Udani, and Riya Kumar, argued that the defendants’ activities amounted to violation of her fundamental right to privacy, commercial misappropriation, and unlawful enrichment.
Reasoning and Analysis
The Court observed that unauthorized exploitation of a celebrity’s persona results in reputational harm and economic loss. The misuse of AI and deepfake technology also raised concerns of dignity and public decency. The Court relied on earlier rulings including Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India (2023), Amitabh Bachchan v. Rajat Nagi (2022), and Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store (2024), which recognized personality rights and granted similar injunctive relief.
Relief Granted
- Defendants 1–9 & 13 were restrained from using Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s persona, acronym “ARB,” or likeness in any form, including AI, deepfakes, and morphing.
- Defendants 3–9 & 13 were prohibited from creating/selling merchandise using her persona.
- Defendant 5 and YouTube/Google were directed to remove infringing content within 72 hours and disclose subscriber details in a sealed cover.
- MEITY and DOT were directed to issue blocking orders against specified URLs.
The matter is listed next for 15 January 2026.
Representation
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was represented by her legal team, while Ms. Mamta Rani Jha, Mr. Rohan Ahuja, Ms. Shruttima Ehersa, Ms. Devangini Rai, Ms. Aiswarya Debadarsini, Ms. Diya, and Ms. Jahanvi, Advocates appeared for Defendant No. 10.
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