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Big Win for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Delhi High Court Upholds Actress’ Personality Rights in Landmark Ruling
Sep 11, 2025In a significant legal victory for Bollywood icon Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld her personality rights, issuing strong directions against the unauthorized use of her name, image, and likeness — particularly through emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Justice Tejas Karia, while hearing the matter, emphasized that unauthorized commercial exploitation of a person's personal attributes not only violates their right to privacy, but also undermines their right to dignity and reputation.
"Personality rights of individuals entail the right to control and protect the exploitation of one’s image, name, likeness, or other attributes of their personality," Justice Karia observed. "Unauthorised use of these attributes can have two major consequences: violation of their commercial rights and a breach of their privacy, which ultimately impacts their dignity."
The court passed a restraining order against various entities found misusing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s persona, including through the use of AI-generated content. It directed Google LLC to take down the URLs identified in the actress’ petition within 72 hours.
This ruling comes amid growing concerns over the misuse of AI tools to create deepfakes or manipulate a celebrity’s identity for commercial or defamatory purposes. The Court acknowledged this emerging threat and made it clear that judicial institutions "cannot turn a blind eye" to such practices.
The decision reinforces the importance of personality rights — a legal concept that allows individuals to control how their personal identity is used, particularly in commercial and digital spaces.
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