The Bombay High Court in the case of Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP, [COM IPR SUIT (L) NO.23443 OF 2024], has granted an interim relief to Arijit Singh, a well-known singer and celebrity ("Plaintiff"), affirming that his name, voice, manner of singing, image, signatures and other personal attributes shall be protected as elements of personality rights. The Plaintiff claimed that his personality rights were being infringed upon by various AI platforms, restaurant owners, virtual reality event organizers and merchandisers ("Defendants").
Background:
The Defendants operate an AI platform that used Real Voice Cloning technology to synthesize the Plaintiff's voice by uploading nearly 456 of the Plaintiff's songs onto the platform without prior his consent. They also shared the process on social media, explaining how to synthesize the voices of other artists and performers. The Plaintiff sought the Court's protection for his personality and publicity rights.
Additionally, the Plaintiff also accused the Defendants of falsely portraying their association with him, utilizing his name and goodwill for sale of their merchandise and creating Graphic Interchange Format ("GIF") files in respect of him, without prior consent.
It was also alleged that the Defendants were commercially exploiting the Plaintiff's publicity rights, goodwill and reputation by advertising, promoting and offering for sale various merchandise such as posters, caricatures, portraits, t-shirts/clothing, framed photographs, guitar tabs, face-masks, phone cases, pillows, bottles, hoodies, sweatshirts, greeting cards, mugs, pins, magnets, spiral notebook, tote bags and zipper pouches bearing the Plaintiff's name, image, photograph and/ or likeness on various e-commerce websites/ platforms.
Decision of the Court:
1. Protection of personality rights
The Bombay High Court reiterated that celebrities are entitled to protection of the facets of their personality such as their name, images, likeness, voice, signature, etc. against unauthorized commercial exploitation by third parties.
Relying on previous decisions, the Bombay High Court held that, in an action for protecting personality rights and right to publicity, the following must be established:
a. the plaintiff must have an established celebrity status; and
b. it must be established that the plaintiff is identifiable from the defendant's unauthorized use and that such use by the defendant is for commercial gain.
The Court was of the view that the Plaintiff's personality traits and/ or parts thereof, including the Plaintiff's name, voice, photograph/ caricature, image, likeness, persona and other attributes of his personality are protectable elements of the Plaintiff's personality rights and right to publicity.
2. Abuse through AI tools
On the effect and influence of artificial intelligence ("AI"), the Bombay High Court recognized the dangers of AI tools. The Court held that AI tools facilitate unauthorized appropriation and manipulation of a celebrity's voice, which is a key component of their personal identity and public persona. This form of technological exploitation not only infringes upon the individual's right to control and protect their own likeness and voice but also undermines their ability to prevent commercial and deceptive uses of their identity.
Coming down heavily on the Defendants, the Bombay High Court stated that the manner in which celebrities, particularly performers such as the Plaintiff are vulnerable to being targeted by unauthorized generative AI content such as that of some of the Defendants, shocks the conscience of the Court. Additionally, allowing the Defendants to continue using the Plaintiff's name, voice, likeness etc. in the form of an AI content, without consent of the Plaintiff, not only risks severe economic harm to the Plaintiff's life/career, but also leaves room for opportunities for misutilization of such tools by unscrupulous individuals for nefarious purposes.
3. Promotion and sale of merchandise
The Bombay High Court held that the advertisement, promotion and sale of merchandise such as posters, caricatures, portraits, t-shirts/ clothing, framed photographs, guitar tabs, face-masks, etc. bearing/ exploiting the Plaintiff's personality traits without any permission from the Plaintiff, is in violation of the Plaintiff's personality rights and right of publicity.
4. Freedom and speech and expression
The Bombay High Court stated that while freedom of speech and expression allows for critique and commentary, it does not grant the license to exploit a celebrity's persona for commercial gain.
In light of the above, the Bombay High Court issued an ex-parte ad-interim order aiming to protect the personality and publicity rights of the Plaintiff. Through this, third party entities have been prohibited from utilizing the Plaintiff's name, voice, photograph/ caricature, image, likeness, persona and other attributes, without his express and prior consent. The Defendants were ordered to remove the unauthorized content from digital media platforms.
Please find attached a copy of the Order.
This update has been contributed by Adity Chaudhury (Partner) and Vaibhavi Gangadhar (Associate).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
