By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
The Delhi High Court on Friday (September 19, 2025) restrained several entities from misusing filmmaker Karan Johar’s name, image, voice and persona through technological tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, deepfakes, face morphing and GIFs for commercial purposes.
Justice Manmeet PS Arora passed the interim order while hearing Mr. Johar’s plea seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against unauthorised use by websites, platforms, and individuals.
The court directed that the defendants, or anyone acting on their behalf, cannot exploit Mr. Johar’s persona or likeness to create merchandise or videos, photographs, and other content for monetary gain, or in a manner that violates his rights.
The court, however, noted that some content flagged by Mr. Johar, including one on Pinterest, six on Meta platforms, and one on X (formerly Twitter) — fell within the exception of parody, caricature, and lampooning, and therefore was not ordered to be taken down.
Mr. Johar’s suit had raised several issues, including the unauthorised sale of mugs, t-shirts, and other merchandise bearing his name and image; fake profiles; impersonation; obscene content; and use of domain names.
“I have a right to ensure that no one unauthorisedly uses my persona, face, or voice,” his counsel, senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, had earlier argued before the court.
The case comes after similar orders were passed recently by the court protecting the personality and publicity rights of actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan.
