Delhi HC grants interim relief to Naga Chaitanya

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Telugu actor Akkineni Naga Chaitanya, directing the removal of pornographic, defamatory and AI-generated content exploiting his name and persona, while restraining unauthorised sale of merchandise bearing his image and likeness.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim order in a commercial suit filed by the actor against multiple websites, intermediaries, online platforms and unidentified 'John Doe' entities allegedly misusing his personality and publicity rights.

The suit alleged that several pornographic websites were using the actor's name as categories, tags and trending labels for obscene content, creating a false and injurious association between the actor and pornographic material.

It also flagged unauthorised sale of merchandise bearing his name, image and likeness and the circulation of defamatory and AI-generated content on online platforms.

According to the plaint, Naga Chaitanya has built substantial goodwill and reputation over a career spanning more than 15 years in the Telugu film industry and has also earned national recognition through his work in Hindi cinema.

In its order, the Delhi High Court recorded that the actor made his debut with the Telugu film 'Josh' in 2009 and subsequently delivered acclaimed performances in films such as 'Ye Maaya Chesave', '100% Love', 'Manam', 'Premam', 'Majili', 'Love Story' and 'Bangarraju'.

Justice Singh observed that the actor enjoys immense goodwill and celebrity status and that his name, image, voice and likeness constitute valuable personality attributes entitled to legal protection.

"Plaintiff is unquestionably a renowned actor in the Indian film industry with an illustrious career spanning over 15 years," the order said, noting that his performances had earned him several awards and accolades and established his reputation across Telugu and Hindi cinema.

The Delhi High Court held that Naga Chaitanya had made out a prima facie case for grant of interim relief.

"Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad interim injunction against the Defendants. Balance of convenience lies in favour of the Plaintiff and it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in case the interim injunction, as prayed for, is not granted," the order said.

"Defendants No. 6, 7 and 11 are unlawfully selling merchandise using Plaintiff's name, image and likeness and other elements of his persona to make commercial gains without Plaintiff's consent and authorization and giving an impression as if Plaintiff is endorsing the merchandise or has some affiliation with it," it added.

Justice Singh further held that the actor was entitled to protection against dissemination of pornographic content and AI-generated material portraying him in inappropriate situations.

"Plaintiff is entitled to protection against dissemination of pornographic content as well as AI-generated images portraying him in an inappropriate scenario. Such distasteful content is harming and damaging the reputation of the Plaintiff and may mislead the public into believing what is depicted may be true," the judge observed.

The Delhi High Court restrained the defendants and their associates from using or exploiting Naga Chaitanya's name, image, voice, likeness or any other attribute of his persona without authorisation for commercial or personal gain, including through technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Machine Learning, Deepfakes, AI chatbots and face morphing.

It also restrained the sale or facilitation of sale of merchandise infringing the actor's personality rights and directed the removal of specific product listings hosted on online platforms.

Justice Singh further ordered pornographic websites to take down URLs using the actor's name in connection with obscene content and directed removal of multiple YouTube videos alleged to be infringing his personality and publicity rights.

The defendants have been directed to comply with the takedown directions within 24 hours of receiving a copy of the order.

The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on July 27 and before the Delhi High Court on September 30 for further hearing.

The Naga Chaitanya case adds to a growing list of high-profile personalities invoking their personality and publicity rights before the Delhi High Court.

In recent months, former cricketer and current head coach Gautam Gambhir, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Arjun Kapoor, Allu Arjun, Nagarjuna, Varun Dhawan, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, singer Jubin Nautiyal, film-maker Karan Johar, podcaster Raj Shamani, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor have secured or sought court protection against the unauthorised use of their identity, likeness, or AI-generated imitations.