Tollywood superstar Nagarjuna Akkineni who recently impressed the audiences with his stunning performance as a villain in ‘Coolie’, has secured a significant win in the Delhi High Court, which has agreed to protect his personality and publicity rights against the unauthorised use of his name, image, and voice, this is particularly in AI-generated content.
Court recognises threat of AI misuse
As reported by the Bar and Bench website, during the hearing, Justice Tejas Karia acknowledged the fast-evolving risks that are posed by generative AI, especially when celebrity likeness is used without consent. The bench pointed out the difficulty of restricting such misuse once content spreads online, stating, “AI is AI, it won’t know what is genuine or not.” The court directed intermediaries to take down the URLs flagged in Nagarjuna’s plea, which included content ranging from pornographic material to AI-generated videos and unauthorised merchandising.
Counsel warns of dangerous trends
Representing Nagarjuna, counsel Pravin Anand argued that AI-generated content featuring the actor was being circulated, monetised, and even used to train AI models. He noted, “The worst is that this video content can be used to train AI models according to YouTube’s policy. They are actually helping in propagation of the illegal content.” His counsel reminded the court of the actor’s 95 films, two National Awards, and millions of followers and this was to highlight the seriousness of the misuse.
Nagarjuna expresses gratitude
After the verdict, Nagarjuna took to social media to thank the judiciary and his legal team. He wrote: “Grateful to the Hon’ble Delhi High Court for protecting my personality rights in today’s digital age. The vital legal strategy and arguments were led by Senior Counsel Mr. Vaibhav Gaggar, and Mr. Pravin Anand along with Ms. Vaishali, Mr. Somdev, and Mr. Vibhav. Thank you for standing by me.” On the work front, Nagarjuna was last seen in Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’
