New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has protected the personality rights of India cricketer Abhishek Sharma and restrained third parties from unauthorisedly misusing his name, image, etc., for any commercial or personal gain, including for dissemination of AI-generated content and sale of merchandise.
In an interim order passed July 9 on Sharma’s lawsuit, Justice Jyoti Singh directed Meta Platforms and other online platforms and e-commerce sellers hosting the infringing material to take down the offending links.
The lawsuit said that several social media users were using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate Sharma’s false images and videos, which were not only spreading rumours but also lowering his commercial value and dignity.
The plea also highlighted that certain handles created morphed images with abusive, offensive and uncivilised language, while some were selling apparel bearing the cricketer’s name, image and likeness without permission.
Justice Singh observed that Sharma is a prominent player of the Indian national team, widely recognised as a rising and influential figure in international cricket, and the content in question was “false and obscene” and portrayed him in a bad light.
The judge said that in cases where personality rights are established, an individual is entitled to protection against the unauthorised use or exploitation of his attributes.
Several public figures, including actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Salman Khan, Art of Living founder Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, podcaster Raj Shamani and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, had approached the high court earlier seeking protection of their personality and publicity rights.
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