High Court
Tabu moves Delhi HC to protect personality rights from online misuse
Actor seeks action against unauthorised use of her identity across digital platforms
MUMBAI: When fame goes viral, so can identity. And as the internet blurs the line between admiration and appropriation, Bollywood actor Tabu is turning to the courts to keep her digital identity firmly under her own name.
Bollywood actor Tabassum Jamal Hashmi, popularly known as Tabu, has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of her personality rights against the alleged unauthorised use of her identity across digital platforms, according to a report by LiveLaw.
The matter came up before Justice Jyoti Singh, who directed senior advocate Swathi Sukumar, appearing for the actor, to file a fresh memo of parties after the court found discrepancies in the details of certain defendants. The case has now been listed for further hearing on August 6.
According to the report, Tabu has sought protection against the alleged misuse of her name, image, likeness and other personality attributes in the digital space. The petition also seeks action against the unauthorised use of her identity across websites, social media platforms and e-commerce portals.
During the hearing, the court examined submissions from social media intermediaries, domain registrars and e-commerce platforms on their responsibilities in handling disputed online content.
Counsel appearing for Meta reportedly argued that intermediaries cannot independently determine whether content is defamatory, while GoDaddy submitted that it has the ability to suspend entire domains but not individual URLs.
The court also directed the parties to reconcile disputed URL compilations and submit a corrected memo before the next hearing.
Tabu’s petition adds to a growing wave of personality rights litigation before the Delhi High Court, as celebrities and public figures increasingly seek judicial protection against the unauthorised commercial use of their names, images, voices and other identifying attributes in the era of AI-generated content, deepfakes and digital impersonation.
In recent months, the High Court has heard or granted relief in similar matters involving personalities including Aman Gupta, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol, R. Madhavan, Jubin Nautiyal, Sunil Gavaskar, Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Kalyan, Raj Shamani and Salman Khan, reflecting a broader legal trend towards safeguarding personality rights in the digital age.
As artificial intelligence and online content creation continue to evolve, courts are increasingly being called upon to define where innovation ends and identity protection begins, making personality rights one of the fastest-growing areas of intellectual property litigation in India.
