INTRODUCTION
Imagine you or someone you know becomes very popular. Your name, your face, your voice, your mannerisms, even your signature or catchphrase, become associated with your identity and recognised by others. Now imagine without your permission somebody else uses your name, image or voice on a t-shirt, advertisement, video, or online profile. Suddenly, you may be seen as endorsing something you never agreed to. That’s where the idea of “personality rights” comes in.
Personality rights are the claim that an individual has over their identity, including name, image, likeness, voice, signature, and even distinctive features such as gestures, mannerisms or a unique style. People control how their identity is used through personality rights, especially in commercial or public contexts. For celebrities and public figures, identity carries significant commercial value, to prevent misuse, misrepresentation, or exploitation by others’ personality rights claims. In simple terms, personality rights mean you decide what uses of “you” are allowed, not others.
WHY DO THEY MATTER ESPECIALLY FOR CELEBRITIES
For everyday people, misuse of their personal identity is rare. But for celebrities, actors, singers, and public figures, the stakes are high. Their name, face, voice or image can be used to promote products, build fake endorsements, produce deep-fake videos, or even create entirely new content (using AI), often without their consent. This can cause multiple harms:
Loss of Control: Their identity was used in a way they never agreed to, such as this.
Commercial Exploitation: From their popularity, selling merchandise, ads, or content. Somebody else may profit while the celebrity gets nothing.
Reputation Damage: Damage celebrity goodwill or public image by Fake endorsements or deep-fake content.
Privacy & Dignity Violation: it can be deeply harmful, particularly if the misuse is intimate, defamatory, or misleading.
Thus, Personality rights are important for safeguarding a person’s autonomy and dignity, giving them control over how their identity appears in public and commercial spaces.
LEGAL LANDSCAPE IN INDIA: NO SINGLE LAW BUT COURTS STEP IN
Interestingly, India does not yet have a single comprehensive law titled “Personality Rights.” Instead, courts have recognised and developed the concept over time.
SO HOW DO COURTS PROTECT THESE RIGHTS?
Courts protect these rights primarily by interpreting them within the broad scope of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to life, dignity, personal liberty, and privacy. Judicial decisions have consistently expanded Article 21 to safeguard individuals against unauthorised use of their identity.
In addition, courts often rely on principles derived from intellectual property law. For instance, they recognise performers’ rights under the Copyright Act, 1957, and apply the doctrine of passing off to prevent deceptive or unauthorised commercial use of a person’s name, image, or likeness, even where such identity is not formally registered as a trademark.
Further, courts treat the unauthorised commercial exploitation of an individual’s identity as a violation of their “right of publicity,” which grants individuals control over the commercial use of their persona. Such misuse is also considered an infringement of the right to privacy, thereby attracting constitutional protection.
HOW CELEBRITIES’ RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED, IMPORTANT CASES & RECENT TRENDS
Over the years, to protect celebrities from unauthorised or exploitative uses of their identity, multiple Indian high courts have stepped in. Some landmark cases and recent developments: The distinct features of a celebrity, such as name, voice, image, signature, and even a catch-phrase or style, have been recognised as part of their personality rights.
The courts have granted injunctions (legal orders stopping misuse) when third parties attempt to use these attributes without consent for commercial gain. In one case involving a jewellery advertisement, a court ordered that a celebrity’s photograph could not be used without his permission, reinforcing that identity cannot be exploited as a “free asset.”
Since the rise of AI, courts are increasingly confronting modern challenges: deep-fake images or voice-cloning tools that mimic a celebrity’s likeness or voice without consent. In such cases, courts have granted relief against not just traditional media misuse but even AI-driven impersonation and manipulation.
A recent pattern shows courts granting broad, sometimes omnibus injunctions restraining unauthorised use of a celebrity’s name, image, voice, catch-phrases, or even “style” across mediums, including digital platforms, AI tools, merchandise, and social media.
These developments show how jurisprudence is evolving to keep up with changing technology and evolving threats to personal identity and reputation.
WHY THE COURTS’ ROLE MATTERS IN THE BIGGER PICTURE
- Protecting Dignity and Autonomy: Identity, likeness, voice, these are deeply personal. When someone else uses them without permission, especially for profit, it strips you of agency. Courts stepping in reassert that individuals have control over their own identity and public image.
- Preventing Misuse amid Digital/AI Explosion: With AI, deep-fakes, voice-cloning, online marketplaces, and global reach, the misuse of celebrity identity has become easier and more harmful. Legal protection helps curb exploitation, misrepresentation, and unfair monetisation of someone’s persona.
- Safeguarding the Economic & Moral Interests of Celebrities: Celebrities often earn from their name, image, and public presence. Unauthorised use can dilute their brand, cause revenue loss, or even lead to reputational damage. Legal protection preserves their economic rights and moral dignity.
- Balancing Free Expression and the Rights of Individuals: It’s not that courts block all use of a celebrity’s name or likeness. They draw lines: genuine reporting, satire, criticism, and parody are usually allowed under free speech. What courts prevent is unauthorised commercial exploitation, impersonation, or misuse that harms dignity or misleads the public. Thus, by shielding celebrities’ personality rights, courts help maintain a balance between free expression and personal dignity, privacy, and economic justice.
THE PRESENT REALITY: CHALLENGES & WHY MORE CLARITY IS NEEDED
Despite positive judicial steps, there are still challenges:
No dedicated Law: The fact that India lacks a unified “Personality Rights Act” means protections are fragmented, relying on precedent, privacy law, copyright law, tort law, and passing off. This may lead to inconsistent outcomes depending on the court, judge or facts of the case.
High Burden on Celebrities: To get relief, celebrities must file pleas, sometimes obtain injunctions, and monitor unauthorised content, especially online. Misuse across AI-generated content, social media, websites, and overseas platforms is difficult and costly.
Blurred Boundaries with Free Speech: While curbing exploitative use, courts must tread carefully to respect free speech, satire, commentary, and criticism. These lines can sometimes be subjective and context-dependent.
Emerging Threats from AI & Deepfakes: misuse becomes more insidious as technology evolves. Courts are responding to petitions, but legal frameworks may still lag, creating a need for clearer laws or regulations.
Hence, while courts have done commendable work, there is still a pressing need for a more robust, statutory foundation to protect personality rights consistently and proactively.
SOME RECENT LANDMARK CASES & COURT ACTIONS
Abhishek Bachchan (Sept 2025, Delhi HC): Soon after Aishwarya’s plea, Abhishek approached the court to block websites illegally using his name and AI-generated images/voice. The court ruled in his favour, ordering the takedown/blocking of offending websites, curbing further misuse of his identity.
Suniel Shetty (Oct 2025, Bombay High Court): He filed a plea against misuse: gambling sites, real-estate agencies and other businesses were reportedly using his images, including deepfakes, without permission. The court reserved its order, as the matter was under active consideration, highlighting the misuse of images and “passing off” identity for commercial gain.
CONCLUSION: PERSONALITY RIGHTS ARE AN ESSENTIAL SHIELD IN MODERN TIMES
The personality rights concept assumes crucial value in a world where identity, name, image, and voice can be commoditised in seconds online. For celebrities especially, these rights safeguard not just commercial value, but dignity, agency and personal autonomy.
Courts stepped in to fill the gap, granting injunctions, restraining unauthorised use and protecting public figures from AI-driven misuse by recognising that identity belongs to the person. Although India does not yet have a dedicated statute for personality rights,
AI clones, fake endorsements and unconsented misuse of personality through deep-fakes, merchandise will only grow, making legal protection more vital than ever. As technology evolves further, strengthening and codifying personality rights may well be the need of the hour for celebrities and ordinary citizens alike.
Author’s Name: Srishti Gupta (University Five-Year Law College, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur)
References:
“Personality rights in India explained: protection of celebrities, Aishwarya/Abhishek case”, Business Standard, https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/personality-rights-explained-protection-celebrities-abhishek-aishwarya-case-125091000517_1.html.
“Personality Rights in India: How Courts Protect Celebrities in the Digital Era”, Vajiram & Ravi, https://vajiramandravi.com/current-affairs/personality-rights-in-india-how-courts-protect-celebrities-in-the-digital-era/.
“Celebrity Rights Under IPR Law”, Lawyers ClubIndia (https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/articles/celebrity-rights-under-ipr-law-15192.asp.
