'Known Face In Content Creation Field': Delhi High Court Passes John Doe Order Protecting Personality Rights Of Raj Shamani

The Delhi High Court has passed a john doe order protecting the personality rights of podcaster Raj Shamani, observing that he is a known face in India, especially in the field of content creation. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that Shamani has gained goodwill and reputation over a course of a successful career and that prima facie, he enjoys publicity rights with respect to its personality, which is his valuable right.“Therefore, prima facie, the Plaintiff No. 1's personality traits and/or parts thereof, including the Plaintiff's name, likeness, voice, image are protectable elements of the Plaintiff's personality rights. The Plaintiff No. 1 is entitled to seek injunction against the use of his personality rights by third parties for their commercial gains without his authorisation,” the Court said. It added that Shamani is also entitled to protect himself against morphed and distorted content which is defaming and demeaning to or patently false, as it is bound to affect his reputation and goodwill.Further, Justice Arora observed that Shamani's rights in the podcast “Figuring out with Raj Shamani” are protected under Copyright Act, 1957, including the exclusive right to communicate the works to the public, and that protection is also warranted against the unauthorized use of the registered trademarks “FIGURING OUT.”The judge passed the ad interim injunction order restraining john does (unknown entities), various online portals, a YouTube channel and a company from using his name, image, likeness, voice or photos without his consent, including through use of Artificial Intelligence or deepfake technology. The Court also restrained them from using the trademark “Figuring Out” and sharing, hosting or streaming Shamani's copyright protected works in his podcast and content without authorisation. It further directed the social media entities to block or remove or take down the infringing content generated through AI and deepfake. The matter will now be heard on April 24, 2026. Counsel for Plaintiffs: Ms. Diya Kapur, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Nakul Gandhi, Mr. Mujeeb, Ms. Tanish Gupta, Ms. Siddhi Sahoo, Mr.mAvi Kaushik and Mr. Aditya Lodha, AdvsCounsel for Defendants: Mr. Madhav Khosla, Adv. for D-6; Ms. Amee Rana, Ms. Sana Banyal and Ms. Varsha Jhavar, Advs. for D-7; Mr. Aditya Mathur, Adv. for D-11; Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC with Mr. Om Ram, Mr. Arnav Mittal and Mr. Mayank Sansanwal, Advs. for D-12 and D-13Title: RAJ SHAMANI & ANR v. JOHN DOE/ ASHOK KUMAR & ORSCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1551Click here to read order

'Known Face In Content Creation Field': Delhi High Court Passes John Doe Order Protecting Personality Rights Of Raj Shamani

Nupur Thapliyal

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