Delhi High Court Orders For Protection Of Personality Rights Of Singer Jubin Nautiyal

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of singer Jubin Nautiyal, restraining multiple artificial intelligence platforms, online intermediaries, e commerce websites and unidentified entities from misusing his name, voice, image and other personality attributes for commercial gain.

The Court passed the interim order in a commercial suit filed by Nautiyal seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against unauthorised AI generated content, voice cloning, deepfakes, chatbots and the sale of infringing merchandise.

“In the considered opinion of this Court, the plaintiff has a prima facie strong case and having regard to his well known, popular and well accepted personality, the balance of convenience is tilted in favour of the plaintiff,” ordered Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.

The Court further observed that failure to grant immediate relief would result in irreparable harm to the singer’s reputation and identity.

“The irreparable loss and injury which may occasion may not be compensated in monetary terms. The dent and damage to the image and personality of the plaintiff, prima facie, appears to be real and present,” the order stated.

In his plaint, Nautiyal claimed that his personality and publicity rights include his name, voice, vocal style and technique, vocal arrangements and interpretations, mannerism and manner of singing, image, caricature, photographs, likeness and signature.

The suit alleged that certain defendants, including AI platforms, were using machine learning and generative AI tools to create audio and visual content that mimicked the singer’s voice, facial expressions and singing style without authorisation.

Nautiyal also submitted that the infringing activities extended to the sale of merchandise such as posters, digital artwork and other products bearing his name and likeness on online marketplaces including Flipkart and Amazon. According to the plaint, such listings falsely suggested association, endorsement or approval by the singer.

After examining the plaint and accompanying documents, the Court restrained the concerned defendants and John Doe entities from directly or indirectly using or exploiting Nautiyal’s personality rights through advertisements, merchandise, domain names, AI voice models, synthesised voices, digital avatars, deepfakes, face morphing or any similar technological means across online platforms, social media, websites and even the metaverse.

The Court also directed online intermediaries and e commerce platforms to take down or block access to identified infringing URLs, posts, videos and applications. They have further been asked to disclose available details of entities responsible for operating such content to help in identifying the violators.

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications have been impleaded in the matter to facilitate implementation of the Court’s directions.

Issuing summons in the suit, the Court directed the defendants to file their written statements within 30 days of receiving summons, along with affidavits admitting or denying the documents placed on record by the plaintiff.

The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on April 28 for completion of service and pleadings. It will be taken up next by the Court on August 25, 2026.

The Nautiyal case adds to a growing list of high profile personalities approaching the Delhi High Court to safeguard their personality and publicity rights in the age of artificial intelligence.

In recent months, figures such as former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Nagarjuna, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, filmmaker Karan Johar and podcaster Raj Shamani have also secured judicial protection against unauthorised use of their identity, likeness or AI generated imitations.

Case Title: Jubin Nautiyal v. Jammable Limited & Ors.

Source: IANS