The Delhi High Court has decreed actor Arjun Kapoor's suit seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights against the unauthorised commercial exploitation of his name, image and likeness, including through artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held that since none of the defendants had filed a written statement or otherwise controverted the averments made in the plaint, the allegations were liable to be treated as admitted, leaving no disputed question of fact warranting a trial.

“In the absence of any written statement or affidavit of admission/denial of documents, the averments contained in the plaint are liable to be treated as admitted,” the Court observed.

The suit was filed by Kapoor against various entities, online platforms and unidentified persons, alleging unauthorised exploitation of his personality and publicity rights.

In an interim order passed on April 29, the Court had restrained several defendants from using or exploiting Kapoor's name, image, likeness and other attributes of his persona without his consent or authorisation.

The restraint also covered the unauthorised exploitation of his performances through technologies including artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, deepfakes, face morphing and superimposition.

The Court had further restrained the defendants from creating or disseminating products such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, posters and mugs, as well as audio-visual content, images and videos using such technologies without authorisation.

Certain online platforms were also directed to take down infringing links and disclose basic subscriber information relating to specified YouTube channels and social media accounts.

During the proceedings, Kapoor's counsel submitted that some defendants had already complied with the interim directions and that there was no likelihood of further infringement, making a full-fledged trial unnecessary.

The Court perused the impugned links and the material on record and found that they were being used without Kapoor's consent for commercial exploitation.

Relying on its earlier decision in Rajat Sharma & Anr. v. Tamara Doc & Ors., the Court held that the suit deserved to be decreed.

It directed the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications to take down the infringing links attributable to one of the defendants that continued to remain active, along with other links specified in the plaint.

The interim directions concerning several other defendants were made absolute.

The Court also permitted Kapoor to approach Meta Platforms and Google with details of any subsequently discovered URLs or content involving the misuse or exploitation of his name, likeness, image, voice, photographs, videos or other aspects of his persona, including infringement of his personality and publicity rights or registered trademarks.

The concerned platforms will independently examine such requests in accordance with their respective policies. Kapoor may approach the Court for appropriate directions if the platforms fail to act on his requests.