Delhi High Court grants Tabu protection from AI misuse, orders removal of 150+ URLs
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Court orders removal across platforms Justice Jyoti Singh, who heard the star’s petition, directed Google, Meta, X and Reddit to take down or disable a large number of URLs allegedly carrying unauthorised and objectionable content about Tabu.
Adding to this, In all, the order covers more than 150 identified URLs. Google has been told to remove 21, eight and five URLs across three separate sets within 36 hours, while Meta must take down 73, 28 and five URLs across three documents in the same window.
Meanwhile, AI-generated content and fake accounts named in plea Tabu’s suit shared that her identity was being commercially exploited through fake event-booking accounts, unauthorised merchandise, fabricated statements and AI-generated or manipulated obscene content. Her plea alleged that scenes from her films were edited, slowed down or zoomed in on intimate portions and circulated online to draw viewers and generate revenue.
Notably, An Instagram account with around 2,000 followers had allegedly used her name, images and video clips to offer bookings for her appearances, an association Tabu shared she never authorised. Websites were also accused of selling mugs, posters, calendars, hoodies and sweatshirts bearing her photographs.
As per the latest buzz, The star further flagged a publication carrying a fabricated and disparaging statement attributed to her, which she shared she never made despite her team issuing clarifications to leading newspapers. The Court termed this an “egregious act” and ordered the concerned publisher to delete the statement from all its platforms within three days.
In further updates, Court cites prior personality rights cases The Court held that Tabu had made out a prima facie case for an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, with the balance of convenience in her favour and a likelihood of irreparable harm without interim protection. It noted that her name and stage name ‘Tabu’, along with her image, voice and likeness, have acquired unique distinctiveness instantly associated with her by the public.
On top of that, Justice Singh referred to earlier Delhi High Court rulings on personality rights, including D.M. Entertainment v. Baby Gift House, Anil Kapoor v. Simply Life India and Jaikishan Kakubhai Saraf v. Peppy Store, observing that misuse of personality rights is not confined to commercial loss but can also affect privacy, personality and the right to live with dignity.
The restraint covers Defendants 1 to 7, including unidentified John Does, and applies to her stage name, real name Tabassum Jamal Hashmi, voice recordings, signatures, images and movie stills, extending to misuse through AI, Generative AI, Machine Learning, deepfakes, face morphing and GIFs across websites, apps, social media and the Metaverse.
Source: Bollywood Hungama