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The bench while allowing the application noted that prima facie It was of the view that the Singh had made out a strong case for the grant of ad-interim injunction, which may also operate as a dynamic injunction
The Bombay High Court recently observed that celebrities are being targeted due to artificial intelligence, which is a violation of their personality rights.
A single-judge bench of the high court comprising Justice RI Chagla was hearing a petition filed by Bollywood singer Arijit Singh seeking a restraining order against platforms from violating his personality rights.
The petition also sought directions for various platforms to delete content that is already uploaded and violates his rights.
The bench while granting interim relief to Singh noted that, "What shocks the conscience of this Court is the manner in which celebrities, particularly performers such as the present Plaintiff are vulnerable to being targeted by unauthorized generative AI content such as that of some of the defendants herein. These Defendants are attracting visitors / drawing traffic to their websites and/or AI platforms by capitalizing on the Plaintiff’s popularity and reputation, thereby subjecting the Plaintiff personality rights to potential abuse," the order states.
The bench in its order recorded that freedom of speech and expression does not grant the license to exploit a celebrity's persona for commercial gain.
The petition was filed through Legasis Partners which sought protection of his personality rights with regard to his name, voice, signatures, photograph, image, caricature, likeness, persona, and various other attributes of his personality against unauthorized/unlicensed commercial exploitation and misuse.
The high court said that such tools facilitate unauthorized appropriation and manipulation of a celebrity's voice, which is a key component of their personal identity and public persona.
Additionally, it noted that such form of technological exploitation not only infringes upon the individual’s right to control and protect their own likeness and voice but also undermines their ability to prevent commercial and deceptive uses of their identity.
The bench while allowing the application noted that prima facie It was of the view that the Singh had made out a strong case for the grant of ad-interim injunction, which may also operate as a dynamic injunction.
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