Delhi High Court Protects Jubin Nautiyal's Rights Against AI Misuse
Court Ruling on Personality Rights
New Delhi, Feb 24: The Delhi High Court has issued an ex parte ad-interim injunction favoring singer Jubin Nautiyal, prohibiting 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.
A single-judge Bench led by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela delivered the interim ruling in response to a commercial lawsuit filed by Nautiyal, which seeks 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 reputation tips the balance of convenience in his favor. The judge warned that failing to provide immediate relief could lead to irreparable damage to the singer's identity and reputation.
The court's order highlighted that the potential loss and harm cannot be adequately compensated financially, indicating that the damage to Nautiyal's image appears to be both real and imminent.
In his complaint, Nautiyal asserted that his personality and publicity rights encompass his name, voice, singing style, vocal arrangements, mannerisms, image, caricatures, photographs, likeness, and signature.
The lawsuit claims that certain defendants, including AI platforms, have been utilizing 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 extend to the sale of merchandise like posters and digital artwork featuring his name and likeness on online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon, misleadingly implying endorsement or association.
Upon reviewing the complaint and supporting documents, the Delhi High Court has 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 has also 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 have been included in the proceedings to aid in enforcing the Delhi High Court's directives.
Issuing summons in the case, Justice Gedela has ordered 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 review by the Joint Registrar on April 28 for service completion and pleadings, with a subsequent hearing set for August 25, 2026, in the Delhi High Court.
This case involving Nautiyal adds to a growing trend of high-profile individuals seeking legal 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 or AI-generated imitations.