Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan wins ‘personality rights’ in legal protection order
- Counsel for the actor said mobile applications, telephone numbers and websites had mushroomed that monetised his images or likeness without permission
- Lawsuit flagged his name, voice, images, pictures, likeness and ‘unique style of dialogue delivery’ among the traits that fall under legal protection
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan won interim protection of his personality and celebrity rights from the Delhi High Court Friday.
The court barred not just identified entities from using Bachchan’s persona, without his consent, but also passed a John Doe order, or an order against world-at-large, from infringing his personality rights.
The lawsuit before the court flagged Bachchan’s name, voice, images, pictures, likeness and his “unique style of dialogue delivery” – he is known as “Mr Sexy Baritone” – among the traits which fall under legal protection. Counsel for the actor told the court that mobile applications, telephone numbers and websites had mushroomed that monetised his images or likeness without permission.
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“Personality right is a strong right to enforce for persons with high level of identifiability and strength of association,” said Eashan Ghosh, a lawyer specialising in intellectual property rights. “Both these factors hold true for Amitabh Bachchan.”
The victory for one of Bollywood’s biggest stars – whose baritone voice and salt-and-pepper hair is recognised all over India – opens the door for similar cases. Personality or celebrity rights are rights against unauthorised commercial use of one’s persona and have not been codified under any law in India.
The court asked the Indian government’s Department of Telecommunications and telephone service providers to take down web links and take action against parties identified in the case.
Star of evergreen classics Sholay, Zanjeer and Deewaar, Amitabh Bachchan has dominated Bollywood since the 1970s. He boasts dozens of awards – among them India’s top civilian honours – a net worth of US$400 million, and starring roles in 200 films.
Additional reporting by South China Morning Post
