New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday said it will pass an injunction order protecting the personality rights of podcaster and entrepreneur Raj Shamani.
The high court was hearing Shamani’s plea seeking to restrain unauthorised use of his image, persona, likeness and voice without his consent, and an injunction order against AI-generated content.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said the court will pass a detailed order, and issued summons to Meta Platforms, Google, X Corp, Telegram and YouTube on the podcaster’s suit.
“We will pass an injunction order,” the court said.
During the hearing, Shamani’s counsel contended that AI-generated deepfakes and fake endorsements were being circulated online, and that unauthorised chatbots and Telegram channels were impersonating him, giving advice, soliciting funds, promoting crypto schemes and marketing books as if Shamani was personally involved.
The court was informed that Shamani is a leading podcaster and runs a podcast show called ‘Figuring Out’, in which he speaks to famous personalities and celebrities.
The counsel said YouTube channels were using clips and scripts from Shamani’s podcast without his permission and consent, and that hashtags and memes were being exploited to increase visibility.
On the point of hashtags, the court said it cannot consider giving relief at this stage since they can be used not just by impersonators but also by fans.
The court said if it passes a blanket order, it will be implemented across the platform and asked the plaintiff’s counsel to raise the issue in subsequent hearings.
It also said that while relief can be granted against some of the prayers, the rest need to be agitated in a different proceeding. The court also said it was not passing any order against parody or satirical videos.
The right to publicity, popularly known as personality rights, is the right to protect, control, and profit from one’s image, name, or likeness.
Recently, Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, her husband Abhishek Bachchan, his mother Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, filmmaker Karan Johar, singer Kumar Sanu, Telugu actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, ‘Art of Living’ founder Ravi Shankar and journalist Sudhir Chaudhary also approached the high court seeking protection of their personality and publicity rights, and the court granted them interim relief. PTI SKV ARI
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