Mumbai, February 21 Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha's signature dialogue, "Khamosh," is "exclusively associated" with his persona, the Bombay High Court has said, while prohibiting the use of his name, images, and other personal attributes to create online content without his consent.
In an interim order passed on a petition filed by Sinha, Justice Sharmila Deshmukh on February 16 directed all websites and social media platforms to remove such content immediately. It also prohibited the unauthorized uploading of such material in the future.
The detailed order was made available on Saturday.
The petition, filed through Advocate Hiren Kamod, sought protection of the veteran actor's personality rights and a permanent injunction or order against the unauthorized use of his name, image, and other personal attributes, including his famous punchline "Khamosh" (silence).
The high court noted in its order that Sinha has a unique style of dialogue delivery, and is especially known for the unique way he says "Khamosh" on screen.
"It is clear that the expression "Khamosh," which was delivered by the Plaintiff (Sinha) in his unique and distinct style in one of his films, is exclusively associated with the Plaintiff's persona," the HC said.
The court stated that it had a "prima facie opinion" that Sinha's name, likeness, image, persona, etc., deserved to be protected, as the material submitted by the actor regarding the misuse of his name and image showed infringement of his personality rights, public rights, and violation of his privacy.
While ordering the deletion of all such online content, the court posted Sinha's petition for further hearing on March 30.
The order also noted that the concept of personality rights has gained momentum due to their unauthorized exploitation on digital platforms and social media for commercial gains, especially in the case of famous people.
"Personality rights... encompass the right to exclusive use of one's own name, style, voice, personality, and so on, and with the advent of artificial intelligence, digital mediums have been used to create forgeries resulting in the violation of personality rights," the HC observed.
Sinha's fake online profiles and digitally manipulated or AI-generated content based on his persona are, prima facie, infringement of his personality rights, Justice Deshmukh said.
"The use of artificial intelligence to produce images and videos... by morphing the Plaintiff's face tarnishes the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiff," the court said.
