Popular TV actor Rupali Ganguly has moved the Bombay High Court seeking protection of her personality and publicity rights. She has highlighted that several online portals have been unauthorisedly using her images, video clips and some have even created deepfake and AI based images and clips for their commercial purposes.
In her plea through advocate Sana Khan, Ganguly has highlighted that in her past 25 years her work in popular TV shows like Kahani Ghar Ghar ki, Sanjeevani, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Anupama etc has made her a distinguished and recognised personality and made her a renowned house-hold name. She has highlighted the fact that she has won several lasting recognition like the Star Pariwar award, the Indian Television Award (ITA) etc.
She has claimed that she is known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi television and that she is one of the highest paid television actresses in India. Citing her versatile roles she has played over the two decades, she has stated that she is one of the rare female actors in the space who are all-rounders in any genre of TV.
"Plaintiff is one of the most celebrated and versatile actors of her generation in the industry and has immensely contributed to the development of Indian cinema. She is also a well-known public figure and icon amongst all age groups. With a career spanning over several decades, her consistent dedication to her craft, remarkable range as a performer and enduring screen presence has earned her widespread recognition and respect, both within the television industry and across the country. She is also considered to be one of the most well recognised television actresses in India," the plaint reads.
Further, Ganguly has contended that she has the right to exclusive control over the commercial utilisation of her personality, name, signature, voice, image, likeness, mannerism, and other characteristics that are uniquely identifiable and associated with her. Thus, she has argued that no one can utilise, imitate or misappropriate any of her personality traits.
"There are dishonest traders physically affix the Plaintiff's name, images on products such as posters, tshirts, covers, etc. with the aim to unlawfully show a nexus, affiliation, sponsorship, association with the Plaintiff, so as to boost their illegal profits. Using her image and likeness to show a false association with them for commercial gain. Further there are dishonest traders, who physically affix her name, images to show that she is associated with them and is available for celebrity events and promotions through them. This has been done without the authorisation of the plaintiff solely to boost their own profits," the plaint reads.
Besides unauthorised use of her images and clips by online boutiques and celebrity management and artist management platforms, Ganguly has highlighted that her deepfake and AI based content are being used on sexually explicit portals, illegally.
"Majority of the Respondents and unidentified parties that are using AI and other image editing tools to morph her face onto videos and superimpose her face on the bodies of other people. These instances are particularly disturbing since they are pornographic and vulgar in nature, made without her consent and violate her modesty and dignity," the plea reads further.
The plea therefore urges the court to issue appropriate directions to the Respondent entities to immediately pull down all the objectionable content.
The plea is likely to be heard by single-judge Justice Madhav Jamdar on Wednesday (November 4).