Delhi High Court Bars Unauthorised Use Of Vivek Oberoi's Name, Image and Voice

The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction in favour of actor Vivek Oberoi, restraining the unauthorised use of his name, image, likeness, and voice, including through AI-generated content.

A coram of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that a prima facie case had been made out, noting that “the dent and damage to the image and personality of the plaintiff, prima facie, appears to be real and present.”

Oberoi approached the Delhi High Court alleging that his name, photographs, likeness, voice, and persona were being misused online without his permission. He stated that he is a well-known actor with a long and successful film career, having acted in popular Bollywood and South Indian films and having received several awards.

He also claimed to be a businessman with ventures in real estate and other sectors and to be actively involved in charitable and social causes.

Oberoi contended that several people and online platforms were falsely using his name and image to make it appear that certain accounts were being run by him officially, without authorisation. He alleged that posters were being sold using his image and that AI tools were being used to create fake and misleading videos featuring him.

According to Oberoi, these activities were being carried out for illegal profit and popularity without his consent, and it was impossible for him to track and proceed against every infringer individually, including unidentified persons.

After examining the material on record, the Court held that “an ex-parte ad-interim injunction is in order.”

The Court observed that Oberoi's copyright over his own personality, including his image, likeness, voice, name and signature, which are distinctively associated with him, could not, prima facie, be doubted at this stage.

It noted, “Prima facie, all the attributes noted above including his voice etc., are exclusively recognized by the general public and those in the entertainment industry, to the plaintiff alone. Thus, the plaintiff, at this stage, has a right to protect his personality apart from all his attributes from unauthorized access by unscrupulous infringers, some of whom are arrayed as defendants in the suit.”

The court further held that failure to grant an ex parte ad-interim injunction would cause irreparable harm to Oberoi, which could not be adequately compensated in monetary terms.

Accordingly, the court restrained the defendants, including unidentified John Doe parties, from the unauthorised use of Oberoi's name, image, likeness, and voice, including through AI-generated content. It also directed specified online platforms and intermediaries to take down infringing links within 72 hours and to disclose the details of the infringers to Oberoi within three weeks.

For Petitioner: Advocates Sana Raees Khan, Pranay Chitale, Udayvir Rana, Aditya Dutta and Dhawesh Pahuja