The Bombay High Court has granted ad-interim relief to television actor Rupali Ganguly in a suit seeking protection of her personality and publicity rights against the unauthorised use of her name, image, likeness and voice, including through AI-generated deepfake videos, morphed photographs and sexually explicit content.
Justice Madhav J. Jamdar restrained various online platforms, websites and unidentified persons from exploiting Rupali Ganguly’s persona without her consent. The Court also directed the defendants to remove infringing content identified in the suit and granted the actor liberty to notify them of similar content for removal.
Rupali Ganguly, known for portraying Monisha Sarabhai in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and the title role in Anupamaa, had approached the Court alleging that her photographs and likeness were being misused by online boutiques to promote products, by talent-management and booking agencies claiming to offer access to her for endorsements, and on platforms hosting AI-generated and sexually explicit content.
Holding that the material on record established a strong prima facie case, the Court observed that the unauthorised use of Ganguly’s persona for commercial purposes and the creation and dissemination of morphed and pornographic content violated her personality, publicity and moral rights. The Court observed:
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“Once sexually explicit or morphed content is circulated online, it can be replicated without limit. Monetary damages would not adequately compensate that injury. The Defendants are alleged to be unidentified or fly-by-night operators, which increases the risk of dissipation. The Plaintiff has a strong prima facie case for grant of reliefs as sought.”
The Court directed the defendants to remove the infringing content identified in the plaint. It also restrained them from exploiting Rupali Ganguly’s persona without her consent, including through artificial intelligence, deepfakes and face morphing. However, no relief was granted against Defendant No.1, an online boutique, which claimed that it was using Rupali Ganguly’s images pursuant to an arrangement with her stylist.
The Court further directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to block the identified URLs and provide available details of the operators.
The ad-interim protection would continue until further orders and matter is listed for December 10.
