Bombay High Court to order takedown of content infringing personality rights of actor Kartik Aaryan

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said that it will order takedown of online content infringing the personality rights of Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan including unauthorised commercial exploitation of his name and image in the digital space [Kartik Aaryan v. Vinsm Globe Private Limited & Ors.]..Justice Sharmila Deshmukh said she will pass an order to that effect.This was after Aaryan's lawyer, Senior Counsel Birendra Saraf, flagged such content some of which he alleged were scandalous and some which amounted to commercial exploitation to sell merchandise. "I want that order which your Ladyship has considered earlier, that upon my pointing out to them, they will remove it. I don't want them to do a suo motu enquiry or something. I will keep informing them whatever I come to know and they can remove it. He is a prominent actor, even his name has a trademark. There are images being used to sell merchandise. There is artificial intelligence created videos. Some of these are quite bad and some of them are just affecting his personality. Some of them are scandalous," Saraf said.Justice Deshmukh then said she will pass appropriate orders in favour of Aaryan..Aaryan's lawsuit named a number of Indian and foreign e-commerce and social media platforms, as well as unidentified "John Doe" defendants who, he said, were exploiting his persona online.The plea alleged that the actor's name, image and likeness were being used on unauthorised merchandise, advertisements and other digital content without consent, thereby infringing his publicity and privacy rights.Aaryan sought a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from using his photographs, videos, voice or any other personality attributes for trade, promotion or endorsements, including through artificial intelligence tools and deepfakes. He further prayed for directions to online intermediaries and government authorities to take down content that violates his personality rights and disclose the identities of anonymous offenders..Besides Saraf, advocates Ameet Naik and Madhu Gadodia appeared Aaryan.The actor's lawsuit was filed through law firm Anand & Naik Company.[Read order]