Vijay Deverakonda gets Delhi HC protection against AI deepfakes and misuse of his identity

Vijay Deverakonda (Pic/Instagram)

The Delhi High Court has restrained the unauthorised use of actor Vijay Deverakonda's name, image, voice and other personality attributes, including through artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes and face-morphing technology, without his consent.

Justice Vikas Mahajan also directed social media platforms Meta, Google and X to remove and permanently take down content identified by the actor, including videos, reels, posts, accounts and channels that allegedly misuse or imitate his persona.

The court directed online marketplaces to remove the identified infringing links within 72 hours of receiving a copy of the order. Domain name registrars were also directed to lock and suspend specified domains within the same period.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications were directed to issue necessary notifications or directions to internet and telecom service providers to block or remove access to the websites listed in the order within 72 hours of receiving a copy.

The court directed the concerned entities to file compliance affidavits within two weeks, as specified in the order.

The court observed that Deverakonda had made out a prima facie strong case for protection of his personality rights and that the balance of convenience favoured him. It said the apprehension of damage to his image and personality appeared real and that the injury might not be adequately compensated through monetary damages.

The actor had approached the court alleging unauthorised commercial use of his name, photographs, voice and other distinctive attributes, besides the circulation of AI-generated and morphed videos portraying him in obscene, vulgar and objectionable situations.

The interim restraint covers the use of his name, including ‘Vijay Deverakonda', ‘Vijay Devarakonda' and ‘Vijay Sai Deverakonda', his initials ‘VD', voice recordings, signatures, fashion style, photographs, movie stills and performances.

However, the court declined to grant an ex-parte interim injunction against the standalone use of the colloquial name ‘Rowdy' on the ground of passing off, observing that material would be required to establish that the expression had acquired distinctiveness or a secondary meaning exclusively associated with the actor. It clarified that using an AI-generated or morphed image of the actor along with the expression ‘Rowdy' would fall within the scope of protection of his personality rights.

The court also permitted the concerned online platforms to seek clarification from the actor regarding how the identified URLs fall within the scope of the order. Websites or social media accounts that are not primarily infringing may approach the court with an undertaking that they do not intend to violate his personality rights and seek modification of the injunction.

The court issued notice to the defendants and directed them to file replies within four weeks. The matter will next be heard before the Joint Registrar on December 3 for completion of service and pleadings, and before the court on February 2, 2027.

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