Delhi High Court Protects Jubin Nautiyal from AI Misuse: A Landmark Ruling
Court Ruling in Favor of Jubin Nautiyal
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued an ex parte ad-interim injunction to singer Jubin Nautiyal, preventing various Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms, online intermediaries, e-commerce sites, and unidentified parties from exploiting his name, voice, image, and other personal attributes for commercial purposes.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, presiding over a single-judge Bench, granted this interim order in response to a commercial lawsuit filed by Nautiyal, which sought to safeguard his personality and publicity rights against unauthorized AI-generated content, voice cloning, deepfakes, chatbots, and the sale of infringing merchandise.
Justice Gedela noted that the plaintiff has a prima facie strong case, emphasizing that Nautiyal's well-established and popular persona tips the balance of convenience in his favor. He warned that failing to provide immediate relief could lead to irreparable damage to the singer's reputation and identity.
The ruling highlighted that the potential loss and harm cannot be adequately compensated financially, as the damage to Nautiyal's image and personality appears to be both real and imminent.
In his complaint, Nautiyal asserted that his personality and publicity rights encompass his name, voice, vocal style and technique, vocal arrangements, mannerisms, image, caricatures, photographs, likeness, and signature.
The lawsuit accused certain defendants, including AI platforms, of employing Machine Learning and generative AI technologies to produce audio and visual content that imitates the singer's voice, facial expressions, and singing style without permission.
Nautiyal also pointed out that these infringing activities included selling merchandise like posters and digital artwork featuring his name and likeness on online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon, misleadingly implying an endorsement or association.
After reviewing the complaint and supporting documents, the Delhi High Court prohibited the involved defendants and John Doe entities from using or exploiting Nautiyal's personality rights through advertisements, merchandise, domain names, AI voice models, synthesized voices, digital avatars, deepfakes, face morphing, or any similar technological methods across online platforms, social media, websites, and the metaverse.
Justice Gedela instructed online intermediaries and e-commerce platforms to remove or block access to identified infringing URLs, posts, videos, and applications, and to provide details of entities responsible for such content to help identify violators.
The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications were included in the proceedings to aid in enforcing the Delhi High Court's directives.
Justice Gedela also issued summons in the case, requiring defendants to submit written statements within 30 days of receiving the summons, along with affidavits confirming or denying the plaintiff's documents.
The case is scheduled for a hearing before the Joint Registrar on April 28 for service completion and pleadings, with the Delhi High Court set to revisit the matter on August 25, 2026.
This case involving Nautiyal adds to a growing trend of high-profile individuals seeking protection for their personality and publicity rights in the Delhi High Court.
Recently, notable figures such as former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (Jr NTR), spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Nagarjuna, Kajol Devgan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, filmmaker Karan Johar, and podcaster Raj Shamani have all secured court protection against unauthorized use of their identities, likenesses, or AI-generated imitations.