Akshay Kumar seeks Bombay High Court protection against AI deepfake misuse
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar filed a lawsuit in the Bombay High Court against unknown defendants for using AI-generated deepfakes and voice clones to create fake endorsements, counterfeit merchandise, and impersonated social media profiles without his consent. He seeks protection of his personality, publicity, privacy and constitutional rights, as well as moral rights under copyright law.
What happened
Actor Akshay Kumar filed a John Doe suit before the Bombay High Court seeking protection of his personality rights from unknown persons infringing them via artificial intelligence.
He seeks to restrain unknown persons from unauthorised commercial exploitation of his name, screen name, image, likeness, voice, distinctive performance style, mannerisms, and other identifiable attributes through AI-generated and deepfake images and videos, counterfeit merchandise, deceptive advertisements, false brand endorsements, and impersonating social media profiles.
Reported impact
Kumar's personality rights, publicity rights, celebrity rights, right to privacy, and right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India have been infringed through large-scale misuse of his persona across social media platforms and e-commerce sites.
Index analysis
Kumar is seeking protection of his moral rights under the Copyright Act, 1957.
The suit names social media platforms and e-commerce sites as parties to the case, with a hearing scheduled before the Bombay High Court.
Governance controls
Justice Arif Doctor recently granted interim protection of similar personality rights to playback singer Asha Bhosle and actor Suniel Shetty, with the High Court recognising that unauthorised creation and uploading of deepfake images on social media platforms constitutes infringement of personality rights.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.