Bollywood celebrities raising serious concerns about their identities being misused for unauthorised merchandising, creation of fake profiles and websites, and for making obscene AI-generated content among other things which caught the spotlight recently as to the extent the fake internet syndicate thrives in a lucrative money making business in the lewd obscene sex market.
Today, celebrity fake internet obscene creations doing the rounds has multiplied by the minute in a plying sex selling exercise.
The fake celebrity obscene factor has surfaced following Aishwarya Rai’s recent Delhi High Court victory over the misuse of her image by AI-generated content that saw the court restrain the infringers from violating Aishwarya Rai’s personality, publicity, or moral rights and from passing off their goods and services as endorsed by her. The interim protection will remain in place until the next hearing on 15 January 2026.
The Aishwarya Rai case did highlight the fact that India’s existing laws, particularly for personality rights, rely heavily on judicial precedent and common law rather than a single, comprehensive statute, thus failing to adequately protect celebrities from a rapidly evolving digital landscape and showing the laws are not tight enough to prevent harm.
A very core matter around misused celebrity identities has been a raging lewd highly commercialized internet projecting fake pornographic content of celebrities that has become a massive pay off for such commercial sharks.
The ruling, however, established a significant precedent for individuals to control their personal attributes and dignity in the digital age, even as it revealed the underlying need for stronger, more specific legal frameworks.
The Aishwarya Rai’s Case revealed that there was no specific codified law to protect celebrity rights except for judicial precedent and common law to address this burning issue where their reputations are threatened by such a commercial syndicate.
The Rai case mirrored the following factors as to personality rights:
• Reliance on Common Law:
The protection for personality rights in India, which encompasses control over one’s name, image, and likeness, is derived from Article 21 of the Constitution (right to privacy and dignity) and is solidified through judicial precedent and common law decisions rather than a specific, codified law.
• Lack of Specificity for Digital Threats:
The case underscored how existing legal frameworks struggled to address the novel challenges posed by AI-generated deepfakes and online impersonation, as they were not designed for this scale and speed of digital manipulation.
• Need for a Stronger Legal Framework:
The significant relief granted to Aishwarya Rai, and the recognition that AI misuse undermines dignity and reputation, indicated a strong judicial push towards safeguarding personality rights. However, it also exposed the insufficiency of the current system to proactively prevent such harms, especially in the absence of a dedicated law.
Highlights of the Case
• Protecting Personality Rights:
The Delhi High Court protected Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s personality rights, preventing the unauthorized use of her name, image, and likeness, even with AI.
• Prohibiting AI Misuse:
The court specifically restrained the misuse of her identity through AI, deepfakes, and face morphing.
• Upholding Dignity and Reputation:
The ruling recognized that the unauthorized exploitation of personal attributes violates an individual’s right to dignity and can harm their reputation and goodwill.
• Precedent-Setting:
This verdict is expected to set a significant precedent for other cases involving personality rights and digital manipulation.
• Directing Platform Action:
The court also directed Google to remove specific URLs from its platforms within 72 hours, showing a more active role for these tech companies in safeguarding these rights.
• Bollywood stars fight for personality rights amid deepfake surge