Delhi High Court Protects Arjun Kapoor’s Personality Rights, Restrains AI Deepfakes
The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor, restraining multiple entities from unauthorised use of his personality and publicity rights, including through AI-generated deepfakes and obscene online content.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed an ad-interim injunction after observing that Kapoor had established a prima facie case. The court noted that no permission or licence had been granted by the actor to any of the defendants for using his name, image, likeness or persona.
Kapoor approached the court citing widespread misuse of his identity, including impersonation for event bookings, sale of unauthorised merchandise, and circulation of AI-generated deepfake videos — some of which were sexually explicit and derogatory in nature.
In its order, the court observed that the defendants were deliberately exploiting Kapoor’s identity for unlawful financial gain, thereby infringing his personality rights. It further noted that such activities amounted to unjust enrichment at the cost of the actor’s reputation.
The court strongly criticised the creation and circulation of explicit deepfake content, stating that such material is not only vulgar but also capable of causing irreparable damage to Kapoor’s image and public persona.
Accordingly, the court directed all identified defendants as well as unknown parties (John Does) to immediately cease using Kapoor’s identity in any form for commercial or personal purposes without authorisation.
It also ordered intermediaries and digital platforms to take down infringing content, including URLs and websites flagged by the actor, and to disclose basic subscriber details of accounts involved in such violations.
The ruling underscores growing judicial concern over misuse of artificial intelligence tools in creating deepfake content and reinforces legal protection for celebrity personality rights in the digital age.
