Delhi High Court gives Amitabh Bachchan permanent protection over his name and image

Your favourite megastar's name, face and voice now have lasting legal cover. The Delhi High Court has granted permanent protection to Amitabh Bachchan's personality rights, which means nobody can use his persona without his consent.

What happened?

In its November 5 order, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav decreed the suit Bachchan filed in 2022. The court was told that he had settled with four of the defendants, who accepted his publicity rights and his right to privacy.

The settlements were quite specific. One person said he had taken steps to remove a mobile app called Amitabh Bachchan Video Call. Another said it had stopped publishing a General Knowledge Quizbook that carried the actor's image.

A third said it had stopped selling posters with Bachchan's image, name and likeness. A fourth said he had deleted the domain name amitabhbachchan.in back in November 2022 and had made no money from it. All four promised not to use his name, image, voice, likeness or any other aspect of his persona without his express permission.

What about the other defendants?

The remaining defendants, including unknown entities, were served but never appeared or filed written statements. Their right to do so was closed on September 25, 2023. The court noted that in a commercial suit, the deadline for a written statement cannot be stretched beyond the prescribed period.

The court also pointed to a continuing pattern of anonymous misuse of Bachchan's persona through websites, apps, posters and messaging platforms. He cannot trace these to named people. So the decree also applies to defendant no. 10, the unidentified "John Does".

What came before?

On November 25, 2022, the same court issued an interim order against unauthorised use of his name, image, voice and persona. That order has now merged into the final decree. The registry will draw up the decree sheet.