Filmmaker Karan Johar moves Delhi HC seeking protection of personality rights

New Delhi: Filmmaker and producer Karan Johar on Monday approached the Delhi High Court, seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights.

The plea came up for hearing before Justice Manmeet PS Arora, who sought certain clarifications from the counsel for Johar and listed the matter for 4 pm for further proceedings.

Besides protection of his personality and publicity rights, Johar has also urged the court to pass an order directing certain websites and platforms not to illegally sell merchandise, including mugs and t-shirts, bearing his name and image.

"I have a right to ensure that no one unauthorisedly uses my persona, face or voice," senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, appearing for Johar, said.

The right to publicity, popularly known as personality rights, is the right to protect, control and profit from one's image, name or likeness.

A few days back, the Delhi High Court has ordered the protection of the personality rights of Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, barring online platforms from illegally using his name or images for commercial gain.

The high court said it was clear that the attributes of Bachchan's persona, including his name, images and signature, are being misused by the defendant websites and platforms without authorisation from him, by employing technological tools such as AI.