Delhi HC rules in favour of Abhishek Bachchan, bans websites from illegally using his name, AI images

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had filed a plea to the Delhi HC to seek protection of her personality and publicity rights. This plea called for blocking of offending websites, taking down of unlawful content and also AI generated images. It also raises concern against commercial exploitation, fraudulent representations to put a full stop to further misuse and exploitation. This also aims at curbing circulation of obscene images which are manipulated through AI.The court ruled in the favour of the actress. After Aishwarya, Abhishek Bachchan had also filed a petition to protect his rights and the court has granted him the same. The High Court said it was evident that Bachchan's personality including his name, images, signatures are being misused by websites without authorisation from him, with the usage of Artificial intelligence. Thus, on Friday, Justice Tejas Karia said, "These attributes are linked to the plaintiff's professional work and associations in the course of his career. The unauthorised use of such attributes has the effect of diluting the goodwill and reputation associated with him." The court further pointed out, "The balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and if an injunction is not granted in the present case, it will lead to an irreparable loss or harm to the plaintiff and his family, not only financially but also with respect to his right to live with dignity." On work front, Abhishek was last seen in 'Kaalidhar Laapata' on OTT. The actor recently won the Best Actor award at the International Film Festival in Melbourne, for his movie 'I Want to Talk' directed by Shoojit Sircar. At the moment, Abhishek is shooting for Shah Rukh Khan's 'King'. While reports suggested that he's playing a negative role in the movie, there's not been an official confirmation on the same from the film's team. 'King' directed by Siddharth Anand, also stars Suhana Khan, Abhay Verma, Jaideep Ahlawat. It will reportedly have Deepika Padukone and Rani Mukerji in important cameos.