Beyond script: Film stars fight AI misuse to reclaim 'themselves'

Mumbai: In a digital landscape increasingly distorted by AI-generated deception, India's top film stars are making a beeline to courts to reclaim ownership of their most valuable asset — "themselves".

A growing list of Bollywood artists, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Hrithik Roshan, are filing lawsuits to enforce their "personality rights." This legal approach is a direct response to the alarming surge in sophisticated AI-driven deep fakes and the unauthorised commercial use of their images, voices, and photographs.

For these actors, the threat goes beyond a simple advertisement without permission. As technology makes it easier to create hyper-realistic, yet entirely fabricated, images and videos, the potential for reputational damage has become "truly alarming," a point recently underscored by the Bombay High Court while granting protection to actors Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty.

"More than misuse for commercial purposes, what is more worrying and threatening is deepfake images and content," Advocate Janay Jain, who represented a group of celebrities in the Bombay High Court, told PTI.

"Such content causes grave harm to the person's reputation and image," Jain opined.

Personality rights grant an individual legal control over the commercial and public use of their identity — their name, image, voice, signature, or any other distinctive attribute easily recognised by the public.

Misuse can range from fake endorsements and unauthorised merchandise to the most insidious threat — malicious AI-generated deepfakes.

While India lacks a specific, codified law on personality rights, courts are stepping up, broadening the definition of the fundamental right to privacy by issuing injunctions and restraining the misuse of an artist's persona without due permission.

"What we are witnessing now is not just a trend but a necessary evolution where artists are finally asserting control over their persona," said Advocate Sana Raees Khan, who appeared for singer Kumar Sanu.

"They know that their identity is their property and right," Khan observed.

The lawyer said that celebrities, galvanised by the rise of digital media, are now more aware of the legal and commercial value of their identity.

This wave of litigation is about setting boundaries and ensuring that the public image, earned through years of gruelling work, isn't exploited by others for profit, Khan added.

"The right to publicity and right to personality are extensions of an individual's right to privacy guaranteed under the Constitution of India," Khan said, adding that a person has exclusive control over the commercial use of their name, image, voice and other distinctive attributes of their identity.

The fight for personality rights isn't entirely new, says Jain and referred to a 2001 case filed by noted Punjabi singer Daler Mehendi and superstar Rajnikanth in 2015.

In 2001, Mehendi filed a suit in the Delhi High Court against dolls emulating his flamboyant image being marketed without obtaining proper permission from him or his company.

In 2015, Rajnikanth filed a suit in the Madras High Court against the makers of the movie 'Main hoon Rajinikanth', claiming that the use of his name was infringing upon his personality rights.

However, the recent rush of court action has been aggressive and comprehensive, protecting highly-specific and distinctive attributes, which include Amitabh Bachchan's famous "Computer ji and lock kiya jaye" catchphrase from 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' TV show, Anil Kapoor's signature "Jhakaas" or Jackie Shroff's words "Bhidu and Jackie." The high courts have also shielded the personality rights of experienced singer Asha Bhosle and singer Arijit Singh from unauthorised use on social media and AI platforms in recent decisions.

As the age of technology becomes increasingly adept at blurring the distinction between fact and fiction, India's stars are making one thing very clear: their image is their own, and they are taking the law to make certain they are the sole proprietors of their own persona.