New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Friday passed an interim injunction in favour of Amitabh Bachchan restraining people from using his name, voice, pic without permission. Justice Navin Chawla passed an order after the Indian superstar filed a suit seeking protection of his publicity rights against the fake ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)’ lottery scam and other online frauds where his photo and voice are being misused to deceive the public.
Justice Chawla while delivering the verdict said, “I am of the opinion that the plaintiff has been able to make out a prima facie case in his favour. The balance of convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants".
The court also observed that the defendants appear to be using the celebrity status of the actor without his authorization or permission and might bring disrepute to the actor.
Passing the ex parte interim injunction, the court restricted the defendants from using Bachchan's publicity or personality rights by misusing his name "Amitabh Bachchan/ Bachchan/ BigB / AB". The court also observed that his voice, image and any other attribute which is exclusively identifiable with him cannot be used for commercial or personal gain.
Earlier Senior Advocate Harish Salve who appeared for the legendary actor submitted that his photographs, voice and other personal attributes were being used without his consent. Salve said that various fake KBC lucky draws, "KBC Lottery Registration" and "Amitabh Bachchan Video Call" and scams were being run using the actor's photographs without his authorization.
"This nonsense has been going on for a while... Somebody started....one must say, somebody has incredible imagination...all India sim card whatsapp lucky draw KBC and his photo on the right side……He has brazenly copied the logo, KBC and "KBC lottery registration" and how to become a lottery winner and his pictures are all over the place," Salve submitted.
Personality rights refer to a right of a person related to his or her personality which can be protected under the right to privacy or as property of a person. This is important to most celebrities because the public uses their name for trades, and this usage influences their sale and other practices as well. People can misuse their name or image very easily for personal trade, therefore it is necessary for renowned figures to register their names to save their personality rights.
Though "Personality Rights" is not defined in any Indian statute, Indian courts have recognised it in a number of judgments. Before Amitabh the case was brought by renowned Indian actor Mr Rajinikanth. According to the Indian Constitution the closest statute to protect personality rights is Article 21 of the Constitution of India under rights to privacy and publicity. Under intellectual property law, there are other statutory provisions that govern and safeguard personality rights more widely.
A person's right to their personality and image is their ability to manage how their persona—their persona in the form of their voice, signature, likeness, appearance, silhouette, feature, face, expression, gesture, mannerism, and distinctive character—is used and commercialised.
