Delhi High Court Grants Permanent Protection to Amitabh Bachchan Personality Rights
The Delhi High Court has passed a decree permanently protecting veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and his personality rights, effectively prohibiting various entities and individuals from commercially exploiting his likeness, name, voice, image, and other personal attributes without obtaining his express consent. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav delivered the order, successfully concluding the commercial lawsuit initiated by the actor in 2022 against multiple parties accused of misusing his distinct identity for unauthorized commercial benefits.
What Were the Legal Terms of the Settlement and Court Decrees?
The High Court decreed the lawsuit against four primary defendants following a mutually agreed settlement, while simultaneously extending protective relief against non-appearing parties and unknown infringers, also known as John Does. The settled defendants formally acknowledged the actor's publicity and privacy rights, undertaking to refrain from any future exploitation of his persona attributes.
The litigation originally stemmed from several distinct acts of unauthorized exploitation. One defendant had developed a mobile application titled Amitabh Bachchan Video Call, while another entity, Manoj Publications, distributed a general knowledge quiz book featuring the actor's photograph without permission. Additional violations involved an unauthorized merchandise seller distributing posters bearing his likeness and an individual who registered the domain name amitabhbachchan.in for commercial utility.
During the proceedings, the settling defendants informed the bench of remedial actions taken. The mobile application developer confirmed that steps had been implemented to remove the software from circulation. The publishing house verified the discontinuation of the quiz book containing the actor's image. The merchandise seller agreed to halt all sales of the unauthorized items, and the domain registrant confirmed that the domain name had been deleted back in November 2022 without generating any monetary gains.
Defendant Entity | Nature of Infringement | Remedial Action Undertaken |
|---|---|---|
Rajat Nagi | Mobile application titled Amitabh Bachchan Video Call | Steps taken to remove application |
Manoj Publications | General knowledge quiz book featuring actor photograph | Discontinuation of quiz book |
Poster Seller | Merchandise posters bearing actor images | Undertaking to stop selling merchandise |
Mahesh Patel | Domain registration amitabhbachchan.in | Domain deleted with no monetary benefit earned |
In exchange for these binding undertakings, which extend to the legal heirs, representatives, and business assigns of the defendants, the plaintiff formally relinquished all claims for damages and financial reliefs against these four settling parties. Consequently, the Court found the terms satisfactory and resolved the dispute pertaining to these defendants on the agreed terms.
Regarding the remaining defendants who chose not to enter an appearance or submit written statements despite proper service of summons, the High Court proceeded under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure. Noting that their right to file written statements had lapsed earlier, the bench observed that invoking Order VIII Rule 10 requires careful judicial discretion and should not be applied mechanically. However, because the pleadings revealed no genuine factual controversies requiring resolution, the Court concluded that forcing a full trial merely to record formal evidence reiterating the pleadings served no judicial purpose. The final order consequently secures comprehensive protection for the actor against both identified violators and anonymous third-party infringers.