Akshay Kumar moves Bombay High Court to protect his personality rights

Actor Akshay Kumar has moved the Bombay High Court seeking protection of his personality rights, alleging widespread misuse of his name, image and voice through deepfake videos, fake blogs and AI-generated content. [Akshay Hari Om Bhatia Vs Ashok Kumar]..Justice Arif Doctor reserved the case for judgment on Wednesday after an elaborate hearing..Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for Kumar, submitted that the proliferation of manipulated media portraying the actor in false contexts had caused serious reputational harm and posed risks to public order.“This content has very serious consequences. It is not only a threat to him and his family but to the public at large,” Saraf told the Court, stressing that fabricated clips attributed to a public figure of Kumar’s influence could lead to immediate public reactions before any clarification could be issued.".Saraf pointed to multiple instances of impersonation, including a trailer falsely depicting Kumar as portraying Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a film in which he had no role. The video, which garnered nearly 20 lakh views, was removed after protests.Another manipulated clip purportedly showed the actor making statements about Rishi Valmiki, prompting demonstrations in several parts of the country. “It was a deepfake image of him—his face, voice, and lip movements were digitally synced,” Saraf said..Saraf also highlighted AI tools and online platforms that clone Kumar’s voice and image. One website, Saraf said, hosts an “AI Akshay Kumar V2 Voice” feature that can generate speech in the actor’s tone and style when text is entered.Several obscene blogs, fake endorsements, and social media accounts using Kumar’s photographs were also cited alongside digital stickers and merchandise being sold under his name. Some of the content appeared to originate from the dark web making the perpetrators difficult to trace, Saraf said..Therefore, he sought injunctions restraining both identified and unidentified defendants from circulating or hosting any material that infringes Kumar’s personality rights, as well as directions to intermediaries and domain registrars to take down infringing content or disclose the identities of those behind it.Saraf clarified that Kumar was not seeking to block entire websites, but only specific pages or links hosting the content. “We have restricted the prayer to obtaining the identities of domain account holders,” he said..The Court took the submissions on record and permitted Saraf to submit a revised note clarifying that the actor—whose full name is Akshay Hari Om Bhatia—is popularly known by his screen name and incorporating undertakings already filed in the interim application..Saraf was briefed by Advocatse Janay Jain, Monisha Mane Bhangale, Bijal Vora and Chandragupta Patil from Parinam Law Associates..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.