{"id":25407,"date":"2025-11-27T23:18:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/27\/deterring-digital-doppelgangers-delhi-hc-protects-ajay-devgns-personality-rights-against-deepfakes-misuse-movies-news\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T23:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:18:13","slug":"deterring-digital-doppelgangers-delhi-hc-protects-ajay-devgns-personality-rights-against-deepfakes-misuse-movies-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/27\/deterring-digital-doppelgangers-delhi-hc-protects-ajay-devgns-personality-rights-against-deepfakes-misuse-movies-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Deterring Digital Doppelgangers: Delhi HC\u00a0Protects Ajay Devgn\u2019s Personality Rights Against Deepfakes &#038;\u00a0Misuse | Movies News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-9736195\">\n<p><span class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">Last Updated:<\/span><time class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-4143937483\">November 28, 2025, 04:23 IST<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asubttl-9736195\" class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990 asubttl-schema\">The\u00a0judgment reinforces the right to publicity in India, which allows an individual to control and profit from the commercial value of their persona<\/h2>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990\">\n<figure class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990 amimg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Devgn\u2019s plea detailed widespread misappropriation, including the creation and dissemination of unauthorised and obscene content, specifically highlighting deepfake pornographic content and images showing him in 'unpleasant' scenarios with female celebrities. File image\" title=\"Devgn\u2019s plea detailed widespread misappropriation, including the creation and dissemination of unauthorised and obscene content, specifically highlighting deepfake pornographic content and images showing him in 'unpleasant' scenarios with female celebrities. File image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1627283897_news18_logo-1200x800.jpg?impolicy=website&amp;width=400&amp;height=225\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Devgn\u2019s plea detailed widespread misappropriation, including the creation and dissemination of unauthorised and obscene content, specifically highlighting deepfake pornographic content and images showing him in &#8216;unpleasant&#8217; scenarios with female celebrities. File image<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"0\" class=\"story_para_0\">The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted significant relief to Bollywood actor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/movies\/bollywood\/when-shakti-kapoor-spoke-about-normal-looking-ajay-devgn-and-the-success-of-phool-aur-kaante-ws-l-9705586.html\">Ajay Devgn<\/a>, protecting his personality and publicity rights by issuing an interim order restraining several websites and online platforms from illegally using his name, images, voice, or other personality attributes for unauthorised commercial gain.<\/p>\n<p id=\"1\" class=\"story_para_1\">The ruling by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora came in response to a suit filed by Devgn, who joins a growing list of Indian celebrities\u2014including Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Karan Johar\u2014seeking legal protection against the rampant misuse of their identity in the digital space, particularly with the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology.<\/p>\n<h4>Context of Misappropriation<\/h4>\n<p id=\"2\" class=\"story_para_2\">Devgn\u2019s plea detailed widespread misappropriation, including the creation and dissemination of unauthorised and obscene content, specifically highlighting deepfake pornographic content and images showing him in \u201cunpleasant&#8221; scenarios with female celebrities. His legal team argued that this material severely damaged his reputation, which he claimed was built as a \u201cfamily friendly personality&#8221; associated with various national brands.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3\" class=\"story_para_3\">Beyond explicit content, the actor flagged several other forms of infringement:<\/p>\n<p id=\"4\" class=\"story_para_4\"><strong>Unauthorised Merchandise:<\/strong> E-commerce platforms were found selling posters, caps, t-shirts, and other merchandise bearing his image and name without consent.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5\" class=\"story_para_5\"><strong>Fake Endorsement\/Bookings:<\/strong> Platforms were falsely claiming to book paid appearances for Devgn, misleading the public for commercial profit.<\/p>\n<p id=\"6\" class=\"story_para_6\"><strong>AI Training:<\/strong> The suit also sought a directive to prevent infringing material from being used by platforms like YouTube to train AI models, raising a novel and critical point in the debate over digital rights.<\/p>\n<h4>The\u00a0Court\u2019s Directive<\/h4>\n<p id=\"7\" class=\"story_para_7\">The High Court passed a clear directive for the immediate takedown of all obscene and AI-generated deepfake videos and sexually explicit content, calling them impermissible and damaging. However, the court provided a caveat regarding non-malicious fan content, stating, \u201cYou have to give some leeway to fan pages\u2026 he will have to erase his footsteps completely&#8221; if all general images were removed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"8\" class=\"story_para_8\">This judgment reinforces the right to publicity in India, which allows an individual to control and profit from the commercial value of their persona. It serves as a crucial legal safeguard against the economic and reputational harm caused by digital impersonation, establishing a strong precedent that personality rights, tied to the fundamental Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution, cannot be commercially exploited without explicit consent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd atawrap\">\n<div class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd atadetailwrp\">\n<div class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd ataname\"><span class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd atthumb\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pathikrit Sen Gupta\" title=\"Pathikrit Sen Gupta\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2023\/11\/pathikrit-sen-gupta-2023-11-9b495ff0ab75df55694941b75cfe8873.png?impolicy=website&amp;width=60&amp;height=60\" class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd attitle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/byline\/pathikrit-sen-gupta-16439.html\" class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd atamail\">Pathikrit Sen Gupta<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pathikrit Sen Gupta is a Senior Associate Editor with News18.com and likes to cut a long story short. He writes sporadically on Politics, Sports, Global Affairs, Space, Entertainment, And Food. He trawls X via &#8230;<span class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd aurpdebtn\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pathikrit Sen Gupta is a Senior Associate Editor with News18.com and likes to cut a long story short. He writes sporadically on Politics, Sports, Global Affairs, Space, Entertainment, And Food. He trawls X via &#8230;<!-- --> <span class=\"jsx-95088aad1b3c53cd aurpdebtn\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990 atbtlink fp\"><span>First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rs\">\n<p>November 28, 2025, 04:23 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-77153e997a009dd0 jsx-1860635990 brdcrmb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/\">News<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/movies\/\">movies<\/a>  <span class=\"brdout\"> Deterring Digital Doppelgangers: Delhi HC\u00a0Protects Ajay Devgn\u2019s Personality Rights Against Deepfakes &amp;\u00a0Misuse<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"coral-wrap\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f \">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coral-cont\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coltoptxt\">Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/disclaimer\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/privacy_policy\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/movies\/deterring-digital-doppelgangers-delhi-hc-protects-ajay-devgns-personality-rights-against-deepfakes-misuse-9736195.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated:November 28, 2025, 04:23 IST The\u00a0judgment reinforces the right to publicity in India, which allows an individual to control and profit from the commercial value of their persona Devgn\u2019s plea detailed widespread misappropriation, including the creation and dissemination of unauthorised and obscene content, specifically highlighting deepfake pornographic content and images showing him in &#8216;unpleasant&#8217;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}