Delhi High Court Grants Relief To Aishwarya Rai In Personality Rights Case, Rules Against Misuse Of Her Name And Photos

Aishwarya Rai approached the Delhi High Court to safeguard her personality rights, raising concerns over the unauthorised use of her name, photographs, and public persona across various digital platforms and commercial products. In a hearing, the court granted an interim injunction to the actress and came down heavily on unauthorised use of her images, name and persona. The court has also restrained several websites, companies, and unidentified persons from misusing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's identity through digital and AI-driven tools. 

The court said that unauthorised use of a celebrity's identity not only causes commercial harm to them, but also detriments their reputation and dignity. Justice Tejas Karia presided over the case and called the misuse of identity a violation of privacy. Bar and Bench quoted the Justice saying, “The unauthorised exploitation of the attributes of an individual’s personality may have two facets – first, violation of their right to protect their personality attributes from being commercially exploited; and second, violation of their right to privacy, which in turn leads to undermining their right to live with dignity.”

The court found that the misuse of Aishwarya Rai's persona created confusion, falsely implied endorsement, and diluted her reputation and goodwill.

Why did Aishwarya Rai approach the court? 

Aishwarya Rai was represented by Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi, who argued that the actress's images were used not only for commercial but also for pornographic purposes. As per Bar and Bench, the advocate said, “It is shocking. Her morphed pictures are being used. It is all AI-generated. There are intimate photographs, completely unreal... Her image, her persona, her likeness is being used to satisfy someone’s sexual desire. He [defendant] is collecting money by putting my face and name." Senior Advocate Sethi detailed the extent of the violations, citing unauthorised merchandise such as mugs, T-shirts, and drinkware, as well as fraudulent business entities like Aishwarya Nation Wealth, which falsely listed Rai as Chairperson.

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In response, the court imposed broad restrictions on the defendants. They were restrained from violating Rai's personality and publicity rights, moral rights, or passing off goods and services as endorsed by her. The order also prohibited the creation, sharing, or dissemination of AI-generated, deepfake, morphed, or manipulated content across any medium. Additionally, the defendants were barred from misusing her persona for commercial products, advertisements, or online platforms.

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As per ANI, the Court has ordered Google LLC and other e-commerce platforms to take down the objectionable URLs within 72 hours of receiving the notice. The matter has now been scheduled for January 15, 2026, and until then, the court granted an interim injunction to Aishwarya Rai. 

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