Delhi HC Orders Takedown Of Deepfake, Pornographic Content Misusing Naga Chaitanya's Identity; Sets 24-Hour Deadline

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya and ordered the removal of pornographic, deepfake and unauthorised content allegedly using his name, image, voice and likeness without permission.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order while hearing a commercial suit filed by the actor seeking protection of his personality and publicity rights. The Court directed multiple defendants to remove the infringing content and comply with its directions within 24 hours of receiving the order.

Naga Chaitanya approached the Court against several websites and online platforms allegedly hosting pornographic content, AI-generated deepfakes, defamatory material and unauthorised merchandise exploiting his identity.

The actor was represented by Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar, assisted by Advocates Somdev Tiwari, Akashdeep Gupta, Siddarth C, Abhishek Nair and Vansh Srivastav. Google LLC was represented by Advocates Mamta Rani Jha, Rohan Ahuja, Shruttima Ehersa and Sanya Sehgal.

After considering the pleadings and documents on record, Justice Jyoti Singh held that Naga Chaitanya had established a prima facie case for the grant of an ex parte ad interim injunction. The Court observed that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the actor and that irreparable harm could be caused to his reputation if the alleged violations were allowed to continue.

The Court noted that Naga Chaitanya has enjoyed a successful career spanning over 15 years in the Telugu and Hindi film industries and has earned considerable public recognition through his work. It observed that his name, image, voice and public persona are valuable commercial assets built through years of professional effort.

Justice Singh further observed that the actor's personality rights extend to the protection of his name, likeness, image and voice, and that no third party can use these attributes without authorisation. Referring to previous rulings on celebrity personality rights, the Court said unauthorised exploitation of a celebrity's identity can result in commercial harm and also affect privacy, dignity and reputation.

A key aspect of the case involved AI-generated deepfakes and pornographic content allegedly linked to the actor. The Court observed that such content has the potential to damage his reputation and mislead viewers into believing that the depictions are genuine.

The Court also took note of allegations that certain defendants were selling merchandise bearing Naga Chaitanya's name, image and likeness without consent. It observed that such products could create a false impression of endorsement or affiliation and, if of poor quality, could further damage the actor's reputation and goodwill.

Pending further proceedings, the Court restrained several defendants and unidentified John Doe parties from using, exploiting or misappropriating Naga Chaitanya's name, image, voice, likeness or any other aspect of his persona for commercial or personal gain without authorisation.

The restraint specifically extends to the use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Machine Learning, deepfakes, AI chatbots and face-morphing tools.

In addition, the Court directed websites allegedly hosting pornographic content linked to the actor's name to remove the identified URLs. Google LLC was also directed to take down specific YouTube videos and Shorts alleged to be infringing Naga Chaitanya's personality rights.

The matter will now proceed further before the Court, while the concerned parties have been directed to comply with the takedown order within 24 hours.