The Bombay High Court has granted actor and entrepreneur Preity Zinta leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent to institute a suit against Google LLC and several other entities over alleged misuse of her personality through AI-generated content.
According to the petition, the actor intends to seek injunctive relief against multiple defendants for alleged violations of her personality rights, copyright, moral rights, goodwill and reputation. Petitioner contended that AI-generated deepfake videos, manipulated images, memes, chatbot personas and other digital content circulating across online platforms were unlawfully exploiting her identity and infringing her legal rights. The proposed suit alleges that such content has caused damage to her reputation and violated her rights under the Copyright Act, 1957.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that Prity Zinta is a renowned actor, producer and entrepreneur who primarily resides and works in Mumbai. It was argued that her goodwill, reputation and persona are situated within the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court, even though several defendants are located outside its territorial jurisdiction and the alleged infringing content is disseminated globally through online platforms.
The Court noted that part of the cause of action had arisen within Mumbai and examined the pleadings relied upon by the petitioner. Accepting the submissions, Justice Abhay Ahuja held that the case was fit for grant of leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, enabling the proposed suit to be filed before the Bombay High Court. Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition and granted leave to institute the suit against Google LLC and other defendants.
