Brief Context
Context The Delhi High Court has recently issued a series of orders protecting the personality rights of Bollywood celebrities from unauthorised commercial use. What are Personality Rights? Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
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Syllabus: GS2/Polity and Governance
Context
- The Delhi High Court has recently issued a series of orders protecting the personality rights of Bollywood celebrities from unauthorised commercial use.
What are Personality Rights?
- Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
- These could include a pose, a mannerism or any aspect of their personality.
- These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales.
- Many celebrities even register some aspects as a trademark to use them commercially.
- For example, Usain Bolt’s “bolting” or lightning pose is a registered trademark.
Reasons for providing these Rights
- The idea is that only the owner of these distinct features has the right to derive any commercial benefit from it.
- Exclusivity is a big factor in attracting commercial dividends for celebrities.
- Personality rights are not expressly mentioned in a Laws in India but fall under the right to privacy.
Legality of Personality Rights
- Celebrities can move the Court and seek an injunction when an unauthorised third party uses their personality rights for commercial purposes.
- Personality rights or their protection are not expressly mentioned in a statute in India but are traced to fall under the right to privacy (Article 21).
- Many concepts in intellectual property rights used in protection of trademarks such as passing off, deception can be applied while deciding whether a celebrity deserves to be protected through an injunction.
Conclusion
- India’s courts are increasingly recognising personality rights to protect individuals from digital misuse, including AI-generated content.
- While protections are expanding, they must balance free speech, artistic expression, and privacy, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive legislation.
Source: TH