The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte interim injunction protecting actor Tabu from unauthorised use of her name, image, voice, photographs and other personality attributes, including through Artificial Intelligence, deepfakes, face morphing and other digital technologies.
Justice Jyoti Singh, who heard a petition filed by the actor, directed major digital platforms including Google, Meta, X and Reddit to remove or disable access to a large number of URLs allegedly carrying unauthorised and objectionable content relating to Tabu.
The court further ordered certain platforms and domain service providers to disclose Basic Subscriber Information and IP log details connected with the accounts or content.
The court's order came on Tabu's suit seeking protection of her personality and publicity rights. The actor had alleged that her identity was being commercially exploited online through fake event-booking accounts, unauthorised merchandise, fabricated statements and AI-generated or manipulated obscene content.
The court observed that Tabu's name and stage name, along with her image, voice, likeness and other personality attributes, have acquired unique distinctiveness and are instantly associated with her by the public.
Justice Singh held that Tabu had made out a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction and that the balance of convenience lay in her favour. The court further found that she was likely to suffer irreparable harm if interim protection was not granted.
The court also noted that personality rights have previously been recognised and protected by the Delhi High Court in cases including D.M. Entertainment v. Baby Gift House, Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India and Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store.
It said unauthorised use of a famous person's name, image or other distinctive attributes for commercial purposes can amount to infringement, dilute the individual's unique identity and result in unearned commercial gain by third parties. A significant aspect of the case was Tabu's allegation that AI-generated obscene images, videos and GIFs were being circulated online by manipulating excerpts from her films, interviews and public appearances.
According to the plaint, some movie scenes had allegedly been edited, slowed down or zoomed in to focus on intimate portions and were then circulated online to attract viewers and generate revenue.
The court observed that uploading and disseminating AI-generated videos containing deliberately edited content from movies, public appearances or interviews, with the objective of sensationalising the material and diverting traffic for monetary gains, was causing irreparable harm to Tabu's goodwill, reputation and commercial value.
The court has restrained Defendants 1 to 7, including unidentified John Does, from using, exploiting or misappropriating any attribute of Tabu's personality or publicity rights without her consent or authorisation.
The restraint covers her stage name 'Tabu', her real name Tabassum Jamal Hashmi, voice recordings and duplications, signatures and initials, images, photographs and movie stills. Importantly, the injunction specifically covers misuse through AI, Generative AI, Machine Learning, deepfakes, face morphing and GIFs, and applies to websites, mobile applications, social media, the Metaverse and other physical or virtual mediums.
The actress had also complained about an online publication carrying a fabricated and disparaging statement purportedly attributed to her.
Her case was that she had never made the statement and that her team had already issued clarifications to leading newspapers. Despite this, the publication allegedly continued carrying the material. The court termed the publication, which Tabu had categorically denied, an "egregious act", observing that its continuation despite the denial was concerning and appeared intended to sensationalise the content and earn money.
The concerned publisher has been restrained from circulating or disseminating the statement and directed to delete and take it down from all its platforms within three days of receiving the court's order.
