Actor Vivek Oberoi has approached the Delhi High Court against deepfake content.
New Delhi: Actor and businessman Vivek Oberoi on Thursday filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking protection against the misuse of his name, image, and other aspects of his personality by several companies, particularly through morphed and AI-generated content.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, “We will pass an order.” Oberoi stated in his lawsuit that several companies are allegedly exploiting his personality rights without permission, causing significant damage to his goodwill and reputation.
His lawsuit states that several companies are creating fake accounts on social media platforms like Instagram using his name and image, and are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create “deepfake” and morphed content containing “objectionable images.”
“These videos often depict the plaintiff in inappropriate settings and in compromising scenes with other celebrities from the film industry. Such scenes often contain overtly suggestive gestures that also target the plaintiff’s family life. Such objectionable videos can mislead the public into believing that what is depicted in the videos is true.
“These videos are obscene and sexually explicit.” “What is particularly serious is that the defendants are exploiting the plaintiff’s image and creating such YouTube Shorts/videos to gain views on their videos,” the suit states.
The lawsuit emphasizes that in addition to his acting career, Oberoi is also a successful businessman with business interests in India and Dubai.
Oberoi has “built an independent commercial credibility beyond the film industry and has acquired considerable goodwill as a businessman,” and no one has the right to misuse or imitate any aspect of his personality, including his name, signature, voice, or image, for commercial purposes without his consent.
The lawsuit also alleges that some companies are selling unauthorized merchandise such as posters, T-shirts, and postcards bearing his name and image on various e-commerce platforms.
The suit seeks an injunction restraining the offending companies from infringing upon his personality/publicity rights.
Several celebrities, such as actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, her husband Abhishek Bachchan, Salman Khan, ‘Art of Living’ founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, and podcaster Raj Shamani, have previously approached the High Court to protect their personality and publicity rights.
