Amitabh Bachchan gets permanent protection for personality rights

The Delhi High Court has passed a final order in favour of Amitabh Bachchan, granting him protection against the unauthorised commercial use of his name, image, voice and likeness. The court has restrained several entities and unidentified persons from using any aspect of the actor's identity for commercial purposes without his permission, as per ANI.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed the decree in Bachchan's suit over the alleged misuse of his personality rights. The case had been pending since November 2022, when the court first granted an ex parte ad interim injunction to protect the actor.

The High Court observed that the right to control the commercial use of one's identity falls under the “right to publicity”. It also found that Bachchan's name and



photographs had been used without his consent in ways that falsely suggested he endorsed certain products and services.

The suit was filed after the actor's identity was allegedly used across several platforms and products. These included a mobile application called “Amitabh Bachchan Video Call”, messages advertising a purported “Kaun Banega Crorepati” lottery, a general knowledge quiz book carrying his photograph, T-shirts, posters and domain names using his name.

The court noted that these instances involved the unauthorised use of Bachchan's “very name and photographs”. It held that the essential requirements for protecting publicity rights, including an enforceable right in a person's identity and the ability to identify the celebrity, were met in this case.