Big B Wins Final Round: Delhi High Court Permanently Bars Commercial Misuse Of Amitabh Bachchan’s Name, Voice And Image
Delhi High Court issues a permanent injunction protecting Amitabh Bachchan’s name, image and voice from unauthorised commercial use, including by unknown infringers.
The Delhi High Court has passed a final order protecting Amitabh Bachchan’s personality rights, bringing to a close a suit filed in 2022. The court’s decree permanently bars individuals and entities from commercially exploiting his name, image, voice, likeness or other attributes of his persona without his express consent. The case had been pending since November 2022, when the court first granted an ex parte ad interim injunction. indialegalliveindiatvnews
What The Court Found
The court observed that the unauthorised use involved Bachchan’s “very name and photographs” and held that the requirements for protecting his publicity rights were met. Per the order, the right of publicity is the right to control the commercial use of one’s identity, and the misuse implied an endorsement he never gave. pressnewsagency
The Defendants
Four defendants settled with Bachchan, including the developer of the app “Amitabh Bachchan Video Call,” Manoj Publications, a poster seller, and the registrant of the domain amitabhbachchan.in. They acknowledged his publicity rights and undertook not to use any aspect of his persona without prior permission. The decree also covers four other defendants who did not take part in the proceedings. The original misuse spanned a fake “Kaun Banega Crorepati” lottery message campaign, a general knowledge quiz book with his photograph, T-shirts, posters and domain names. Delhi High Court grants permanent protection to Amitabh Bachchan’s personality rights, extends injunction to unknown infringers - India Legal +2
