Actor Anil Kapoor's Name, Image, Voice Cannot Be Used Without Permission: Ruled Delhi High Court (Image:twitter.com/AnilKapoor)

Delhi High Court on Wednesday passed the omnibus order to prevent the usage of image and other personal attributes of actor Anil Kapoor, without prior consent, on a plea alleging AI misuse.

Indian actor Anil Kapoor, who predominantly works in Hindi films, approached the Delhi High Court seeking a permanent order restraining the public usage of his name, voice, signature, image or any other attribute without his prior consent.

The matter was heard by the bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh of Delhi High Court on Wednesday and it directed a sanction.

The actor sought a a permanent injunction restraining infringement of his publicity or personality rights against people at large from the court. The restriction is also applicable for social media channels, e-commerce websites, and mobile applications.

The constricted traits includes Mr Kapoor”s name, image, voice, signature or any other attribute which is exclusively identifiable with him. They cannot be used for any commercial or personal gain without the actor”s consent.

The suit was filed by Mr Kapoor raising concern that tools such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) are being used by individuals to prejudice his hard-earned goodwill and reputation, reported the Bar and Bench.

“This court has no issues in holding that his [Anil Kapoor”s] name, persona and likeness has to be protected not only for his own sake but for the sake of his family who do not want to see his name being used for tarnishing and negative use … The plaintiff has made out a prima facie case in his favour”, ruled the Court.

The Court also barred the use of artificial intelligence tools to morph his image as well as the use of his image in GIFs for monetary gains or commercial purposes where such activities are likely to violate Kapoor”s rights.

It also directed http://Godaddy.com LLC, Dynadot LLC and PDR Limited to immediately block and suspend domains like Anilkapoor.com and others.

He sought to restrain the use of his name, the acronym AK, his voice, image, as well as his sobriquets like Lakhan, Mr India, Majnu Bhai, Nayak and the phrase Jhakaas without his consent.

“When the same crosses the line and results in tarnishment, blackening or results in jeopardising the individual”s personality and elements associated with the said individual, the same would be illegal” said the Court adding that the “celebrities” right to endorsement could in fact be a major source for livelihood which cannot be allowed by destroyed by permitting illegal merchandise”.

The suit was filed through Anand & Naik. Advocates Ameet Naik, Pravin Anand, Madhu Gadodia, Dhruv Anand and Abha Shah appeared for Anil Kapoor.

Delhi High Court produced a similar ruling in 2022 in which the Court stated that the Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan”s name, image, voice, and personality attributes cannot be used without permission.

The order was released after the actor seek the court to protect his name, image, voice, and personality attributes.