“Have To Draw Some Line”: Delhi High Court To Examine Scope Of Personality, Publicity Rights Amid Rising Suits
The Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that it needs to draw clear boundaries around personality rights and publicity rights, noting that the two are increasingly claimed together in lawsuits and that some claims extend to defamation, caricatures, and independent creative works.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav made the observation while hearing actor Rakesh Bedi's suit seeking protection of his personality rights.
“Therefore, we have to draw some line,” the court observed, calling for compilations of judgments and written submissions from the lawyers. It said the matter would be heard again the next day.
The court identified three questions it wants to address: what personality rights protect, what constitutes publicity rights, and who can claim these rights.
The questions arise amid a growing number of personality rights suits filed by actors and other public figures seeking to restrain the unauthorised use of their names, images, likenesses, and other aspects of their personas.
Advocate Varun Pathak, appearing for Meta, argued that personality rights and publicity rights have different legal foundations.
He submitted that publicity rights are rooted in property law, can be assigned to others, and are protected under Article 300A of the Constitution, which safeguards the right to property.
Privacy, on the other hand, is a personal fundamental right recognised by the Supreme Court in its Puttaswamy judgment and cannot be transferred to another person, he argued.
Pathak submitted that claims arising from commercial use should be examined under passing off or property law, those based on privacy under privacy law, and those concerning reputation under defamation law.
He also argued that injunctions should not be granted where larger public interest is involved.
Pathak told the court that similar issues were being argued in another matter, where the court had asked him to assist it in his capacity as an intermediary. He offered to share his compilation of submissions with the court.
A similar controversy is being examined by another bench of the Delhi High Court, which has decided to hear the personality rights suits filed by actors Vivek Oberoi and Janhvi Kapoor and Aaradhya Bachchan, together. The cases raise common questions about the scope of personality rights and the limits of protection against the unauthorised commercial use of a person's identity.
Bedi's suit concerns merchandise sold online and caricatures allegedly infringing his personality rights. Counsel for one of the defendants told the court that the two products specifically mentioned in the suit were no longer being sold on its website.
Pathak suggested that caricatures may not fall within the scope of personality and publicity rights.
Bedi had earlier approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights. The case initially came before Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, who referred it to the bench hearing matters before the Intellectual Property Division.