Delhi HC has sought clearer limits on personality rights amid concerns over free speech
The observations could shape how courts balance personality rights, free speech and intermediary liability
The Court limited potential relief to specific pornographic content monetising Kapoor’s persona and declined a blanket takedown of fan pages
The Delhi High Court (HC) observed yesterday that the idea of safeguarding one’s personality rights is “going out of hand” now and cautioned that broad restrictions could impact free speech.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani made the observation while hearing actor Janhvi Kapoor’s plea seeking protection against the unauthorised commercial exploitation of her name, image and other personality traits. The next hearing is scheduled for August 17.
The court’s remarks came as it examined the scope of personality rights in the digital age, including the extent to which public figures can seek removal of online content and whether such relief could inadvertently restrict legitimate expression.
Kapoor is seeking the removal of more than 5,000 webpages and social media posts featuring alleged pornographic AI-generated content, impersonation accounts, fake booking agencies and chatbots that purportedly exploit her name and persona for commercial gain, as per a Bar & Bench report.
The HC, however, found that reliefs sought to be overly broad and directed Kapoor’s counsel to submit a tabulated list of webpages carrying “ex facie pornographic, obscene, prurient, lascivious” content that appear to be directly monetising her personality rights through the sale of merchandise or services.
“I am inclined to give you relief in these categories,” the bench said, further declining to order the blanket removal of fan pages as such a direction could have implications on free speech itself.
The court noted that fan pages may be “lampooning adulatory” or critical of a public figure’s work, and questioned whether such pages should be shut down merely because they feature the celebrity.
Declining Kapoor’s plea for a dynamic injunction, the HC said public personalities must contend with a certain degree of scrutiny and criticism in the digital world.
“You are a public personality. Who is immune these days? Everyone who is in the public domain is being abused left, right and centre,” it observed.
The court also examined where personality rights intersect with copyright, questioning whether the commercial sale of a copyrighted photograph or artwork featuring a celebrity would automatically amount to exploitation of that person’s personality rights.
Appearing for Meta, advocate Varun Pathak opposed the petition, arguing that it was not humanly possible to examine all 5,000 links flagged by Kapoor. He also submitted that AI-generated images are not prohibited by law and that the creators of such content have a right to livelihood.
The court, however, cautioned Meta against overstepping its role as an intermediary.
“I urge you to not overstep your role. Intermediaries have no role, that itself would imply you have more interest,” Justice Bhambhani said.
Justice Bhambhani also asked the parties to assist the court in developing clearer contours for personality-rights suits.
“I would like you to assist me to bring some sanity to the concept of personality rights. It started as something small, done with good intentions. It is going out of hand now,” the honourable judge observed.
It is important to highlight that in recent times, personality rights have emerged as a growing legal trend, not just among Bollywood celebrities and cricketers but also startup founders.
The issue is no longer limited to actors and other traditional public figures, with founders increasingly approaching courts for protection of their names, images, voices and other personality attributes.
Last week, PhysicsWallah cofounder Alakh Pandey secured an interim order from the Delhi HC protecting his personality rights against unauthorised commercial exploitation, defamation and explicit AI-generated content.
In May, the HC also granted interim protection to boAt cofounder Aman Gupta against the unauthorised use of his name, image, voice, catchphrases and other personality attributes, including through AI-generated deepfakes and obscene content.
Source: Inc42 - Startups
