Delhi High Court Protects Actress Tabu From AI Deepfakes

The Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte interim injunction protecting Bollywood actress Tabu, born Tabassum Jamal Hashmi, from the unauthorized use of her personality and publicity rights. Justice Jyoti Singh ruled that the actress's name, image, voice, and other distinctive attributes have acquired unique distinctiveness and that their misappropriation for unlawful gains would cause irreparable harm to her reputation and dignity.

Tabu alleged that her identity was being commercially exploited through fake event-booking accounts, unauthorized merchandise, and manipulated obscene content. This material included deepfakes and face-morphed images created from her films and interviews. The court's injunction extends to her stage name, real name, and other attributes across digital and virtual mediums, including the Metaverse.

As part of the order, the court directed Google LLC, Meta Platforms Inc., X Corp., and Reddit Inc. to remove or disable access to more than 150 URLs containing the objectionable AI-generated content. Additionally, the court ordered these platforms and GoDaddy to disclose basic subscriber information and IP logs to assist in identifying the perpetrators responsible for the content.