Telugu Actor Nagarjuna Gets Delhi HC Protection Against Deepfakes, AI Exploitation

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued an interim order in favor of veteran Telugu actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, safeguarding his personality rights against unauthorized exploitation. Justice Tejas Karia directed several websites and unidentified individuals (John Doe parties) to refrain from misusing the actor's name, image, likeness, voice, or any other personal attributes for commercial purposes without his consent. The order explicitly includes the misuse of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Machine Learning, deepfakes, and face morphing. Recently, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and filmmaker Karan Johar sought and obtained similar protections against unauthorized AI-generated or defamatory content. In those cases, the courts similarly held that unauthorized use of personal attributes without consent violates an individual's privacy, moral rights, and personality rights, particularly when technology is used to create deceptive or offensive depictions.

Court Rules Against Misuse of Nagarjuna's Identity

The court prohibited the defendants from creating, circulating, or monetizing content that exploits Nagarjuna's persona, noting that such actions could mislead the public and unfairly associate the actor with unauthorized endorsements. Additionally, the court ordered the concerned websites to take down the flagged URLs within 72 hours. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications have also been directed to ensure that these links are blocked. Justice Karia emphasized that misuse of an individual's identity not only jeopardizes their economic interests but also infringes upon their right to dignity, causing significant harm to their reputation and goodwill.

The order pointed out that Nagarjuna is a highly regarded figure in the entertainment industry, and portraying him in misleading or derogatory contexts risks diluting the value of his brand and reputation. Nagarjuna was represented by a legal team comprising Pravin Anand, Vaishali Mittal, Vibhav Mithal, Shivang Sharma, and others.

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