Akshay Kumar moves Bombay High Court seeking protection of personality rights, Hrithik files suit in Delhi HC

Akshay and Hrithik have move Bombay and Delhi HC respectively

Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan have moved Bombay High Court and Delhi High Court respectively for protection of their personality rights against alleged misuse.

Akshay Kumar in his petition has also sought protection from the misuse from artificial intelligence.

Both the matters are going to be heard today in Bombay and Delhi High Courts respectively.

Akshay Kumar, who has worked in over 150 films, wants to uphold the misuse of screen mae "Akshay Kumar," images, likeness, voice, distinctive performance style, mannerisms, and other identifiable attributes.

The suit that has been filed by Hrithik Roshan has cited: 'large-scale misuse of his persona through any kind of 'AI-generated and deepfake images and videos, counterfeit merchandise, deceptive advertisements, false brand endorsements, and impersonating social media profiles on platforms…and various e-commerce sites.'

Also Read: Explained - What Do Personality Rights mean? Why celebrities like Aishwarya Rai, Karan Johar and others are fighting to protect them

In his suit, Hrithik has also made various social media platforms and e-commerce sites a party to the suit.

Recently, many Bollywood actors, singers and directors including Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Asha Bhosle, Suniel Shetty, Karan Johar and many more have also sought protection under personality rights.

The HC, in Suniel Shetty's order, said "unauthorised creation/uploading of deepfake images of the Plaintiff (Shetty) on social media platforms constitutes a grave infringement not only of his personality rights but also of his right to live with dignity.'

In September this year, the Delhi High Court had protected the personality rights of Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, barring online platforms from illegally using her name, images for commercial gain.

The high court said when the identity of a famous personality is used without their consent or authorisation, it may not only lead to commercial detriment to the individual concerned but also impact their right to live with dignity.

"The courts in such cases of unauthorised exploitation of one's personality rights, cannot turn a blind-eye to the same and shall protect the aggrieved parties so as to avert any harm to them resulting from the said unauthorised exploitation," Justice Tejas Karia said in an order passed on September 9 and made available on Thursday. (With PTI inputs)