The Delhi High Court granted an interim injunction to actor-BJP MP Ravi Kishan, protecting his personality rights. The order restrains the misuse of his name, image, and voice, especially via AI and deepfakes, for commercial or personal gain.
The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of actor and BJP MP Ravi Kishan, restraining the unauthorised use of his name, image, voice and other personality attributes for commercial or personal gain. The order was passed by Justice Jyoti Singh on July 2 in a commercial suit filed by Ravi Kishan against those misusing his identity across digital platforms.
The court observed that Kishan had established a prima facie case, that the balance of convenience lay in his favour, and that he was likely to suffer irreparable harm if interim protection was not granted. Relying on earlier decisions, the court reiterated that unauthorised use of a celebrity’s attributes causes both commercial detriment and harm to the right to privacy and dignity.
Injunction Extends to AI and Deepfake Technology
The court restrained the defendants from misappropriating Ravi Kishan’s public persona attributes through any technology, including Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Machine Learning and Deepfakes, across any medium.
Details of Alleged Identity Misuse
Several entities had allegedly exploited Ravi Kishan’s identity by uploading pornographic content using his name in web pages and URLs, circulating obscene reels and fabricated statements on social media, creating AI-generated videos mocking his speech and diction, and broadcasting content that distorted his identity.
Specific Prohibitions and Directives
In its interim order, the High Court restrained all defendants from using the names ‘Ravindra Shukla’ or ‘Ravi Kishan’, as well as his image, likeness, voice, persona and other identifiable attributes for any commercial or personal benefit. The prohibition expressly extends to misuse through emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Machine Learning and deepfakes across all physical, virtual and social media platforms. The Court also prohibited the publication or circulation of vulgar, obscene or pornographic audiovisual content using any aspect of Ravi Kishan’s personality.
Further, the court directed the concerned defendants and domain name registrars to remove the infringing URLs identified in the suit within three days. In the event of non-compliance, major technology platforms, including Meta Platforms Inc., Google LLC and X Corp., have been directed to disable access to the offending content within 72 hours of receiving intimation. (ANI)
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