Delhi High Court protects Karan Johar's personality rights, flags concerns over misuse of technology

New Delhi [India], September 19 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of filmmaker and television personality Karan Johar, holding that his personality rights deserve protection against unauthorised commercial exploitation.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, while passing the order, observed that infringers cannot misuse Johar’s name, acronym “KJo”, image, likeness, voice or any other attributes of his persona. The High Court also specifically prohibited the use of deepfakes, GIFs, face-morphing and other AI-driven tools to exploit his identity commercially.

The HC noted, “It is trite law that if there is a right, the Plaintiff (Karan Johar) is entitled to seek injunction against its violation. Since the Plaintiff admittedly has personality rights and the same are being infringed by the Defendants due to their unauthorized use, the Plaintiff is entitled to seek an injunction against such Defendants.”

Justice Arora further remarked that with the rise of advanced technology, it has become “possible and easy for any individual or entity to unauthorisedly or illegally use, copy and imprint the personality attributes of a celebrity for unearned commercial gains.” Given the commercial value of publicity rights, celebrities are entitled to protect their name, likeness, voice and other attributes from misuse, the court emphasised.

On derogatory and obscene online content, the High Court agreed with Johar’s submission that such videos and memes could not be considered “fair comment.”

It observed that abusive and profane social media posts not only tarnish a celebrity’s reputation but also adversely affect their brand value. The judge stated, “The Plaintiff has thus made out a prima facie case in his favour. The balance of convenience is in favour of the Plaintiff that such videos, posts and memes should be taken down so as to protect his reputation and goodwill.”

Accordingly, the court restrained the defendants and anyone acting on their behalf from creating or circulating merchandise, videos, or posts using Johar’s persona without authorisation.

The Delhi High Court also took note of the larger issue of regulating misuse through social media platforms. During the hearing, Justice Arora indicated that intermediaries like Google, Meta and X may be required to provide Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) and IT log details of flagged accounts.

The judge clarified that a detailed interim order would be passed, adding: “In the IA (interim relief application), I will pass a detailed order. Injunction to be granted.”

Appearing for Johar, Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao argued that Johar’s persona was being monetised through viral memes, merchandise, and domain name misuse. “There is a line between making fun and exploitation. The more the memes, the more viral it is, the more money you make. I have a right to ensure that none uses my persona or characteristics without my consent,” the lawyer submitted. (ANI)

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