Delhi HC protects Tabu’s personality rights, orders removal of AI-generated obscene content

The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to acclaimed actor Tabu against the unauthorised use of her name, image, voice and other attributes of her personality, including their misuse through artificial intelligence, deepfakes and face-morphing technologies.

Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on August 6 after Tabu, whose full name is Tabassum Jamal Hashmi, approached the court alleging unauthorised exploitation of her personality rights across online platforms.

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The actor’s suit raised concerns over defamatory material, merchandise carrying her photographs without permission, and manipulated or AI-generated images and videos being circulated online.

The court observed that Tabu was likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if interim protection was not granted, noting her standing as an internationally recognised actor with a career spanning more than three decades.

“There is no gainsaying that Plaintiff’s name and moniker/stage name ‘Tabu’ and her image, voice, likeness and other attributes of her personality have acquired unique distinctiveness and are associated with her instantly by members of the public,” the court observed.

It further held that the actor has the right to prevent third parties from using, misappropriating or commercially exploiting her personality attributes without her consent or authorisation.

Among the material flagged in Tabu’s plea were allegedly obscene AI-generated images and videos created to attract online engagement. The actor also alleged that excerpts from her films, interviews and public appearances had been manipulated or edited to portray her in an obscene manner.

According to the plea, certain intimate scenes from her films had also been altered by zooming in or slowing down footage to highlight particular parts of the visuals, allegedly to attract viewers and generate unlawful gains.

The interim order consequently restricts the unauthorised exploitation of Tabu’s personality attributes and directs the removal of the offending content identified in her suit.