Delhi High Court Protects Actor Arjun Kapoor's Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court has made permanent an order protecting actor Arjun Kapoor against the unauthorized use of his name, image, and likeness, as none of the defendants contested his lawsuit. In a separate but related proceeding, the same judge asked lawyers for actress Kriti Sanon to clarify the scope of personality rights before ruling on her case.

In Kapoor's case, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav decreed the suit on October 14, deeming Kapoor's claims admitted due to the lack of a defense filing. The court found no disputed questions of fact requiring a trial and was satisfied that flagged links were used for commercial exploitation without consent.

The court directed government bodies, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications, to remove infringing links, including those from poster seller Ice Poster. The permanent order was issued against nine defendants, encompassing merchandise sellers, a YouTube channel, and two Facebook pages.

Kapoor can submit future infringing URLs to platforms like Meta and Google via affidavit, with the platforms expected to act according to their policies. The court's decision builds on a prior ruling establishing a similar mechanism for content takedowns.

Regarding Kriti Sanon's suit, filed for protection of her name, image, and likeness, Justice Kaurav requested clarification on the extent of personality rights and which attributes are legally protected. The court is awaiting further legal arguments and research before making a decision, with the next hearing scheduled for October 29. India currently lacks specific legislation defining personality rights, leading courts to determine each case individually.