Suniel Shetty has been granted urgent interim protection by Bombay High Court. This is against abuse of his image through AI-generated depths, false ads and false goods. The Court said these actions violate his fundamental rights to integrity and dignity.
What did the judge say?
As reported by Bar and Bench, Justice said Arif S Doctor, “the material presented, including obscene AI-generated images of Shetty and his family, could at best be described as a deadly combination of a condemned mind and abuse of technology, which can harm Shetty’s personality rights.”
Suniel Shetty asks the court to protect its image
Shetty went to court to protect its personality rights, integrity and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. He also wanted to protect his moral rights under copyright.In his presentation, Shetty talked about his three decades long career in more than 100 films. He also mentioned his business with national and international brands and his social media after over 13 million.Proponents Birendra Saraf, who represented Shetty, said: “The actor’s name, similarity, image, voice and manner had been uniquely associated with him and were abused through deep fakes, unauthorized ads, false social media profiles and merchandising.”
Judicial remarks damage to reputation and integrity
The Court said that the false content not only harms Shetty’s reputation but can also mislead the public. Justice Doctor said: “The unauthorized creation/ upload of the Deepfake images of the plaintiff on social media platforms constitute a serious intrusion, not only of his personality rights but also of his right to live with dignity. Equally, the unauthorized use of AI -generated images of the complainant and his family members.” He also said that these actions give a false idea that Shetty supports the products or content, which misleads people. This is classic that goes off and abuse of goodwill.
The Court allows John Doe’s decision for unknown persons
The Court agreed that Shetty’s request for John DOE decision. This is an order for unknown persons, not just the people mentioned in the case.Justice Doctor said: “Given the secret and continued nature of these activities and the ongoing injury, the complainant has properly imposed responding no. 1, ‘John Doe/Ashok Kumar,’ to represent the entire class by such unknown persons whose identities cannot currently be established. “
Respondents prevented from using Suniel Shetty’s image
The Court prevented several defendants from using Shetty’s image in any form. This includes AI content, deepfakes, cloned sound or goods. Meta platforms and X Corp were told to remove the illegal content within a week. They must also give the Shetty details for users who uploaded the content if asked. The case will be heard next November 17.
Suniel Shetty on the Workfront
Shetty will the next appear in ‘Hera PHERI 3’ with Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal. He is also part of “Welcome to the jungle”, which has an ensemble role.
