The Delhi High Court has ruled in favour of actor Arjun Kapoor in a personality rights case, protecting his name, image, likeness and other aspects of his identity from unauthorised commercial use, including through AI-generated content and deepfakes. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav decreed Kapoor’s suit after the defendants failed to file written statements or contest the allegations. The court held that the claims in the plaint could therefore be treated as admitted, leaving no disputed questions of fact requiring a trial.

“In the absence of any written statement or affidavit of admission/denial of documents, the averments contained in the plaint are liable to be treated as admitted,” the court observed.

How Arjun Kapoor’s Personality Rights Case Reached the High Court

Kapoor had filed a lawsuit against various parties – the online forums as well as unknown individuals – who were using his identity for commercial gains without his permission.

The court on April 29 had issued an interim injunction against various defendants prohibiting them from using his name, picture, personality traits, etc., without his permission. This prohibition extended to the use of his performances through artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, deepfakes, face morphing, and superimposition.

AI Deepfakes, Posters and Merchandise Under the Scanner

The interim order prohibited the creation and distribution of products such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, posters and mugs featuring Kapoor without authorisation. The restrictions also extended to audio-visual content, images and videos created using such technologies. Certain online platforms were directed to remove infringing links and disclose basic subscriber information associated with specified YouTube channels and social media accounts.

Court Makes Interim Protection Against Unauthorised Use Absolute

During the proceedings, Kapoor’s counsel told the court that some defendants had already complied with the interim directions. Counsel also argued that a full trial was unnecessary given the circumstances and the absence of any likelihood of further infringement.

After examining the links and material on record, the court found that Kapoor’s identity was being used without his consent for commercial exploitation. Relying on its earlier ruling in Rajat Sharma & Anr. v. Tamara Doc & Ors., it decreed the suit.

The court directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications to remove specified infringing links that remained active. Interim directions against several other defendants were made absolute.

Arjun Kapoor Can Seek Removal of Future Infringing Links

The court also allowed Kapoor to approach Meta Platforms and Google with URLs of any subsequently discovered content misusing his name, likeness, image, voice, photographs, videos or other aspects of his persona, including violations involving registered trademarks. The platforms will assess such requests under their respective policies. If they fail to act, Kapoor can return to the court seeking appropriate directions.

The ruling strengthens the legal protection available to Kapoor against unauthorised commercial exploitation of his identity, including through emerging AI technologies.

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