Filmmaker and TV personality Karan Johar has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights in order to prevent the unauthorised sale of merchandise using his name and image.
Johar’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao, argued that several websites and social media pages were using his photographs and persona without consent to generate funds. This move comes after similar petitions by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, who successfully secured court orders protecting their images and names from commercial exploitation.
Karan Johar moves Delhi HC
“These are websites where my photos are downloaded. Various pages on various [social media] platforms are in my name,” Rao told the court, according to Bar and Bench.
The case, listed as Karan Johar v. Ashok Kumar/John Doe & Ors, was heard on Monday, with the court examining the scope of unauthorised use versus permissible fan engagement.
Representing Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Advocate Varun Pathak stressed that many of the flagged comments are not defamatory and cautioned that a blanket injunction could trigger widespread litigation. “These are ordinary people having comments and having discussion. Now to drag them to Court for making an ordinary joke,” he said.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora noted the need to distinguish between disparagement, memes, and commercial exploitation. “Not every fan page can be ordered to be blocked or taken down… Please specifically identify it, the Court will consider it. It cannot be every fan page,” he said.
Rao argued that Johar should have the right to control the use of his image and persona. “The fact that I chose to look the other way does not give any carte blanche to others,” he said. The court indicated it may issue take-down orders for specific pages, while allowing Johar to approach the platform or court if similar violations appear in the future.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing later today.
What happened in Aishwarya and Abhishek’s cases?
Karan Johar’s move follows similar petitions by actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, who successfully secured protection against unauthorised commercial use of their images and names.
In Abhishek Bachchan’s case, the court observed that his persona, including his name, images, and signature, had been misused by websites employing technologies such as artificial intelligence without his consent. “These attributes are linked to the plaintiff’s professional work and associations in the course of his career. The unauthorized use of such attributes has the effect of diluting the goodwill and reputation associated with him,” Justice Tejas Karia said in an order passed on September 10.
The court granted an ex-parte injunction, finding that Bachchan had established a strong prima facie case and that the balance of convenience favoured him. It also emphasised that without an injunction, Bachchan and his family would suffer irreparable damage, both financially and in terms of his right to live with dignity.
“The balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and if an injunction is not granted in the present case, it will lead to an irreparable loss or harm to the plaintiff and his family, not only financially but also with respect to his right to live with dignity,” it said.
Similar orders have been issued in favour of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, preventing unauthorised use of her likeness online. Justice Tejas Karia restrained various entities from misusing the personal attributes of the actress, like her name and images – even with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The court stated that such misuse of personality rights also results in harming actress’ reputation.
“Personality Rights of individuals, simply put, entail the right to control and protect the exploitation of one’s image, name, likeness or other attributes of the individuals’ personality, in addition to the commercial gains that can be derived from the same. Personality Rights can be located in the individuals’ autonomy to permit or deny the exploitation of the likeness of other attributes of their personality,” the Court said.
“In other words, the unauthorised exploitation of the attributes of an individual’s personality may have two facets – first, violation of their right to protect their personality attributes from being commercially exploited; and second, violation of their right to privacy, which in turn leads to undermining their right to live with dignity,” it added.
Justice Karia also expressed that the courts cannot turn a blind-eye to such incidents and further directed Google LLC to take down URLs mentioned in Aishwarya’s suit in the next 72 hours.
The defendants in Abhishek and Aishwarya’s cases included commercial platforms and online stores such as Bollywood Tee Shop, Tee Public, Ice Poster, Top Pix, Wallpaper Cave, Wallpaper.com, GM Authentic Autos LLC, JS Sham Rock, and Etsy.
The suits also named several YouTube channels, including AI MH 39, Eat with Celebrities, Enjoy with Celebrities, All In 1, and Game with Giri, as well as Google LLC, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Department of Telecommunications.
What are Personality Rights?
Personality rights are the rights a person has over their own identity. They allow someone to control how their name, photo, voice, or likeness is used, especially for money-making purposes. Often called the “right of publicity,” these rights stop others from misusing a person’s image or reputation for things like ads or merchandise without permission. For celebrities, this protection is especially important. In today’s digital world, with tools like AI and deepfakes, personality rights also help guard against false or harmful use of someone’s identity.
