Delhi high court permanently protects actor Amitabh Bachchan's personality rights

The Delhi high court has granted permanent protection to the personality rights of veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, restraining entities from using his name, image, voice, or other aspects of his persona without his consent.

The court said that its November 2022 interim order protecting Amitabh Bachchan's rights would stand merged into the decree. (AFP File)In its November 5 order, a bench of justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav decreed the suit filed by Bachchan in 2022, after being informed that he had entered into settlements with four entities acknowledging his publicity rights and right to privacy.

As part of the settlement, one individual informed the court that he had taken steps to remove the mobile application titled Amitabh Bachchan Video Call, while the other said that it had discontinued publication of its General Knowledge Quizbook, which featured the actor’s image.

One individual submitted that it had stopped selling posters bearing Bachchan’s image, name and likeness. Meanwhile, another informed the court that he had deleted the domain name amitabhbachchan.in in November 2022 and had not derived any monetary benefit from it.

All four entities undertook not to use Bachchan’s name, image, voice, likeness or any other aspect of his persona in the future without his express permission. With regard to the remaining defendants, including unknown entities, the court noted that, despite being served, they had failed to appear or file written statements, and that their right to file written statements had been closed on September 25, 2023.

The court further observed that, in a commercial suit, the statutory timeline for filing a written statement cannot be extended beyond the prescribed period. The court said that its November 2022 interim order protecting the veteran actor’s rights would stand merged in the decree.