Aishwarya Rai Bachchan V. Aishwaryaworld.Com & Ors.

The Plaintiff, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, an internationally renowned actress, former Miss World, and global brand ambassador, filed a commercial suit seeking protection of her Personality/Publicity Rights, copyright, and to prevent misappropriation of her persona. She alleged that Defendants were engaged in:

Summary

• False impersonation and unauthorized use of her images and name on websites and applications (Defendants 1, 2, 6).
• Sale of merchandise such as T-shirts, mugs, and posters bearing her name and images without authorization (Defendants 3–5).
• Use of AI chatbots and deepfake content to simulate her persona, often with inappropriate or sexually explicit content (Defendants 7–9, 13).
• Hosting and facilitating the infringing content on digital platforms (Defendant 10, Google LLC).
• Government authorities (Defendants 11 and 12) were impleaded to enforce court orders.

The Plaintiff contended that such unauthorized use caused irreparable harm to her goodwill, reputation, commercial endorsements, and dignity, and included exploitation through modern technologies such as AI, Generative AI, Deepfakes, Face Morphing, and Machine Learning.

Issues:

1. Whether the Plaintiff is entitled to ex-parte interim injunctions restraining the Defendants from infringing her Personality/Publicity Rights?
2. Whether technological misuse of her image and persona, including via AI and online platforms, amounts to Passing Off, infringement of Personality Rights, and commercial exploitation?

Judgment / Orders:

In the court of Hon’ble Justice Tejas Karia granted ex-parte injunctions in favor of the Plaintiff:

1. Defendant Nos. 1–9 and 13 are restrained from using, exploiting, or misappropriating the Plaintiff’s name, acronym “ARB”, image, likeness, or other persona attributes for commercial or personal gain on any medium, including AI, Generative AI, Deepfakes, Face Morphing, or other technologies.
2. Defendant Nos. 3–9 and 13 are restrained from creating, sharing, or disseminating products (T-shirts, mugs, posters) or content (audio-visual, images, videos) resulting in dilution of the Plaintiff’s persona.
3. Defendant No. 5 must take down identified URLs within 72 hours and submit subscriber information (names, emails, IP logs) of owners/operators within 7 days.
4. Defendant No. 10 (Google LLC) must take down identified YouTube URLs within 72 hours and provide subscriber information within 7 days.
5. Defendant Nos. 11–12 (MeitY & DoT) are directed to block and disable identified URLs within 7 days.

The Court observed that:

• The Plaintiff has a prima facie case; balance of convenience lies in her favor.
• Misuse of her personality via unauthorized channels causes irreparable loss to goodwill, reputation, and commercial interests.
• Personality Rights protect name, image, likeness, and other identifiable attributes, and unauthorized exploitation, particularly commercially, violates these rights.

The matter was listed for further hearing on 15 January 2026.

Significance:

The Aishwarya Rai Bachchan case sets an important precedent in India for protecting celebrity Personality Rights in the digital age, including against AI-generated content. It affirms that courts will provide proactive and immediate remedies to prevent commercial exploitation, passing off, and dilution of reputation, emphasizing the need for legal safeguards for public figures in the modern technological ecosystem.