Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of Obscene Content In Actor Meenakshi Chaudhary's Personality Rights Suit
The court, however, left claims of commercial exploitation of her personality rights open, saying blanket relief could not be granted without evidence of actual monetisation.
The Delhi High Court has granted actor Meenakshi Chaudhary an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against sexually explicit content allegedly posted online without her consent. The order was passed in her personality rights suit.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, however, left open her claim that certain content was commercially exploiting her personality. Chaudhary claimed that the content attracted views or hits that were monetised through advertising.
The court said Chaudhary would have to show evidence that the defendants had actually made money from her personality. It was not inclined to grant broader relief without such evidence.
Chaudhary's counsel had placed before the court a table categorising the allegedly infringing URLs into three broad categories.
The first comprised URLs containing sexually explicit content allegedly posted without her consent. The second concerned content which, according to Chaudhary, exploited her personality rights by attracting views or hits that were then monetised through advertising carried in relation to the URLs.
The third category comprised content which, according to Chaudhary, used her name and likeness to indirectly promote the sale of merchandise or services.
The court pressed her counsel to explain how the number of views translated into actual monetisation.
“You have to show me that they are making money. What is the evidence that they have made money on your personality?” the court asked.
The judge said the number of views was not in itself evidence that the defendants had made money from Chaudhary's personality.
“2,51,000 views, no problem. And you will be the happiest because you want those views, you want those hits, right? It shows your popularity. But show me that somebody has made money on it,” the court said.
The court also questioned the claim concerning AI-generated images bearing Chaudhary's likeness. The judge noted that there was no allegation of copyright violation because the plaintiff had described the image as AI-generated.
“None of this is obscene. I mean, you are a public personality. Now, how are they monetizing the personality?” the judge asked.
The court drew a comparison with websites carrying news about the Delhi High Court and photographs of its judges.
“Now, if some website carries news about the Delhi High Court and shows the photographs of Delhi High Court judges, that website may be making money itself but that has nothing to do with us,” the judge observed.
Referring to the related personality rights matter concerning actor Janhvi Kapoor, the court said it was opposed to granting blanket injunctions on personality rights.
“I am against granting blanket injunctions on personality rights,” the court said.
“Where do we draw the line is all I am asking. I am not saying that no line has to be drawn. But, where do we draw the line?” the court added.
The court accordingly granted an ex-parte injunction only in relation to the first category, sexually explicit content allegedly posted without Chaudhary's consent.
The issues concerning commercial exploitation of her personality rights and the third category were left open for consideration at a later stage.
These will now be taken up along with a related batch of personality rights matters, including actor Janhvi Kapoor's suit, first on September 22, and then in a more detailed hearing in the first week of October.