Samantha's face, voice, name can't be misused by AI, says Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Thursday restrained the unauthorised use of actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s name, image and voice across AI platforms, e-commerce portals and digital media entities in a suit concerning her personality rights. The court also ordered the removal of unauthorised content involving the actor.

Justice Madhav Jamdar held that the material before the court prima facie showed a violation ofSamantha’s personality and publicity rights through non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes and morphed content.

“The plaintiff's personality rights and publicity rights are protected by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, that is, the right to freedom of speech and expression, as also by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, that is, the right to life and personal liberty, including the right to privacy and the right to human dignity, and her moral rights as a performer are separately protected under Section 38B of the Copyright Act. Thus, all these valuable rights of the plaintiff are violated and adversely affected by the impugned actions of the defendants,” the judge observed.

Samantha had approached the court seeking protection against the unauthorised creation and dissemination of AI-generated, morphed and deepfake content using her identity. Her suit sought injunctions against unidentified infringers, as well as several technology platforms, AI developers, digital media firms and e-commerce entities.

The actor also sought permanent injunctions, content takedowns, a John Doe order — which allows legal action against unidentified infringers — and damages.

The suit involves 18 defendants, including technology platforms, AI developers, media entities and government bodies. Samantha invoked Section 62 of the Copyright Act, 1957, in relation to the court’s jurisdiction, while her claim concerning performers’ moral rights is covered under Section 38B of the Act.

The actor was granted leave under Clause XII of the Letters Patent on August 28. The provision allows the Bombay High Court to exercise jurisdiction in certain cases involving defendants or causes of action outside its ordinary territorial jurisdiction.

Samantha submitted that while her business and goodwill are based in Mumbai, several alleged infringing activities and commercial operations by non-resident defendants extended beyond the court’s local territorial jurisdiction.

The court granted ad-interim relief directing the removal of the unauthorised content and restrained further unauthorised use of Samantha’s name, image and voice. The suit has been listed for further hearing on December 10.- Ends