(Deep)Fake it till you make it? Bollywood celebrities won't hear of it
celebrities are turning to the Copyright Act and the Information Technology Act to prevent abuse of their personality rights through generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly deepfakes, in the absence of specific laws to combat this escalating concern.
Legal experts say the proliferation of deepfakes, a type of generative AI, poses significant threats to the personality rights of celebrities. Deepfake content, generated by AI, appears genuine but is entirely fabricated.
In a landmark intellectual property rights (IPR) case involving singer Arijit Singh, the Bombay High Court recently granted an ad-interim exparte injunction against multiple defendants, including Codible Ventures LLP, for the unauthorised use of AI and voice-cloning technologies to replicate the singer's voice.
Indian courts have similarly issued injunctions in cases filed by celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, and Karan Johar, aimed at protecting their personality rights. These rulings recognised their celebrity status and prohibited defendants from using their voice, image, likeness, or other personal attributes without permission.
Alpana Srivastava, partner at Desai & Diwanji, observed a growing trend of cases where Bollywood celebrities are looking to protect their IPR from deepfakes and AI exploitation. She pointed out that India lacks sufficient laws to address the issue of deepfakes, with only Sections 66© and 66(d) of the IT Act 2000 covering identity theft and cheating by impersonation using computer resources.
