Actor Abhishek Bachchan Moves Delhi HC To Protect His Publicity, Personality Rights

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights, and an injunction against the unauthorized use of his name, image, voice, photographs, and performances by websites, YouTube channels, and online sellers.

The petition aims to prevent misuse of his persona for commercial or personal gain, including through AI-generated and deepfake content.

Case Heard By Justice Tejas Karia

The plea was briefly taken up on Wednesday by Justice Tejas Karia, who noted that action against platforms such as Google could be taken if specific infringing links were provided.

“We can ask Google to take down. You have to give URL specific to each other. If you can identify the platform, it can be easily done. YouTube, Amazon, Flipkart is mentioned in the petition. This order cannot be granted. It has to be divided defendant wise. We cannot pass an order this way,” Justice Karia observed.

Abhishek’s counsel, Advocate Pravin Anand, assured the court that the list of URLs would be provided shortly. “Please pass over, we will divide as per defendant,” he said. The matter was then scheduled to be heard again in the afternoon.

Follows Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s Similar Plea

The actor’s move comes just a day after the same bench considered a plea filed by his wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who too sought judicial intervention to protect her personality rights. Justice Karia had earlier hinted at passing an order to stop online platforms and individuals from morphing her images or exploiting her persona without authorization.

Concerns Raised in the Petition

In his plea, Abhishek Bachchan highlighted that his persona was being misappropriated in several ways, including:

• Unauthorized sale of merchandise and wallpapers featuring his image.
• Circulation of fake autographs and signed photos.
• Creation of AI-generated and deepfake videos distorting his identity.
• Use of his persona in sexually objectionable material.

His counsel argued that such misuse not only violated intellectual property and personality rights but also carried the risk of damaging his reputation and misleading the public.

Reliefs Sought

The petition seeks directions to restrain defendants—including YouTube channels, online marketplaces like Etsy (Ireland), wallpaper and merchandise sites such as Bollywood Tee Shop, and other digital platforms—from:

• Misusing his name, image, likeness, voice, and signature.
• Exploiting his performances without authorization.
• Engaging in trademark infringement, unfair competition, and defamation.
• Circulating sexually explicit or derogatory content linked to his persona.

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