PERSONALITY RIGHTS

Recently, the Delhi High Court ruled in favor of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, protecting his personality rights from being exploited through AI tools by websites and platforms. The court emphasized the growing misuse of AI, such as voice cloning, deepfakes, and facial expression mimicking, which can distort the public image and reputation of public figures. This misuse not only threatens personal privacy but also impacts the economic interests of celebrities, as their image and likeness are often used to endorse products, services, or causes without consent.

What Are Personality Rights?

Personality rights give individuals the right to control the unauthorized use of their personal attributes. These rights safeguard:

• Name

• Image

• Voice

• Likeness

• Distinctive expressions or traits

These rights have both commercial and non-commercial components.

Key Aspects of Personality Rights:

1. Right to Publicity:

   • This protects an individual’s image and likeness from being used for commercial purposes without permission.

   • It is indirectly governed by laws such as:

     • Trademarks Act, 1999

     • Copyright Act, 1957

2. Right to Privacy:

   • Protects an individual from having their personality represented or used publicly without consent.

   • This right is broadly upheld under Article 21 of the Constitution and further strengthened by judgments like the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) Case (2017), which recognized privacy as a fundamental right.

Posthumous Personality Rights in India

In India, there is no specific legislation protecting posthumous personality rights (i.e., rights after death). However, there are certain protections:

• Emblems Act, 1950: This law prohibits the commercial use of images of national leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and the Prime Minister.

• Deepa Jayakumar v. AL Vijay (2019): The court ruled that personality rights, reputation, and privacy cease after a person’s death.

Key Judicial Pronouncements on Personality Rights in India

1. ICC Development (International) Ltd. vs. Arvee Enterprises, 2003 (Delhi HC):

   • The court ruled that any attempt to violate publicity rights would infringe on Articles 19 (freedom of speech) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.

2. Arun Jaitley vs Network Solutions Private Limited and Ors, 2011 (Delhi HC):

   • The Delhi High Court affirmed that the fame or popularity of an individual online is just as important as their real-world popularity, meaning their personality rights apply in the digital space too.

3. Rajinikanth v. Varsha Productions, 2015 (Madras HC):

   • The Madras High Court ruled that using a celebrity’s name, image, or style without their consent violates their personality rights.

Challenges in Protecting Personality Rights

The lack of specific legislation and the gaps in existing intellectual property (IP) laws create major challenges in protecting personality rights, especially when it comes to AI-driven technologies like deepfakes and voice cloning.

In the digital age, unauthorized use of a celebrity's persona has become more accessible, making it harder to enforce personality rights effectively. As public figures’ identities are increasingly manipulated for commercial or malicious purposes, there is a pressing need for:

• A specific legal framework to address the emerging challenges.

• Stronger enforcement mechanisms to prevent AI impersonations.

• Active monitoring by government agencies to block unauthorized uses of AI-generated content.

Conclusion

While the Delhi High Court’s ruling in favor of Sadhguru represents a positive step toward protecting personality rights, it also highlights the need for comprehensive and updated legal protections in the face of rapidly advancing technologies. The current IP laws are not sufficient to address the scale and complexity of AI-generated impersonations, making it crucial to introduce new legislation and empower authorities to protect individuals' personal attributes in both digital and physical spaces.