Delhi HC Protects NTR Jr’s Personality Rights, Bars AI and Deepfake Misuse

The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Junior, popularly known as NTR Jr, restraining multiple websites, online marketplaces and unidentified “John Doe” entities from unauthorised commercial use of his name, image, likeness and other personality traits. The court also cracked down on the misuse of the actor’s identity through artificial intelligence, deepfake technology and other digital tools, observing that such acts amount to a clear violation of personality and publicity rights.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in an ex-parte ad-interim order passed on December 22, held that NTR Jr’s name, image, likeness and associated identifiers are protectable elements of his personality rights. The court said the actor is entitled to seek an injunction against third parties who exploit these attributes for commercial gain without authorisation, particularly for selling merchandise and promotional material.

The court restrained 17 defendants, including unknown persons and websites, from using the actor’s personality traits in any form, including through AI-generated content, deepfakes, GIFs, edited videos and images. It specifically barred the use of identifiers closely associated with the actor, such as “NTR”, “JR NTR”, “NTR JR” and “Man of Masses”, along with his photographs, likeness and visual styles, across physical and digital merchandise including T-shirts, mugs, posters, keychains and life-size cut-outs.

Recognising NTR Jr as a widely known public figure with immense goodwill and reputation across India, the court noted that continued circulation of infringing content would cause irreparable injury to the actor. It therefore directed all concerned websites and online platforms to take down infringing URLs, posts, videos and allied content. The court fixed a compliance timeline of 72 hours from receipt of the order for removal of the listed infringing links.

The court further observed that online marketplaces and intermediaries cannot adopt a passive approach once specific complaints of infringement are raised. It directed certain platforms to place on record their internal policies for dealing with complaints related to trademark infringement, copyright violations and unauthorised use of personality rights in commercial merchandise. In the event of non-compliance with the takedown directions, the court also directed search engines such as Google to act on the discoverability of the offending URLs.

In his plea, NTR Jr asserted that his persona carries substantial commercial value and brand goodwill, stating that he holds trademark registrations for several marks associated with his name and public identity across multiple classes. He also claimed that his brand value exceeds ₹400 crore. The actor argued that his personality and publicity rights are protected under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, in addition to statutory protection under the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The court noted that at an earlier hearing on December 8, it had directed social media platforms and e-commerce entities to treat the actor’s plea as a formal complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and to act on it within three days. The matter has now been listed for further hearing on May 19, 2026.

The order forms part of a growing judicial trend where courts are stepping in to curb the misuse of celebrity identities in the age of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. In recent months, the Delhi High Court has granted similar interim relief to several prominent personalities, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, filmmaker Karan Johar, singer Kumar Sanu, Telugu actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani, reinforcing the expanding scope of personality and publicity rights in India.