Actor Aishwarya Rai and husband Abhishek Bachchan approached the Delhi High Court earlier this week to remove dozens of websites which use their names, photos and morphed images to sell things like wallpapers, videos, even T-shirts, mugs and posters.The High Court bench of Justice Tejas Karia, in orders passed on September 9 and 10, has directed the world’s largest search engine, Google, and other internet platforms to take down the URLs, as they violate the “personality rights” of these actors.advertisementDuring the hearing on Wednesday, Justice Karia asked the counsel for Abhishek Bachchan, Senior Advocate Pravin Anand, to give a list of identified URLs which had violated the personality rights of the actor.On Tuesday, the same bench had taken up a similar plea filed by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, directing the platforms to remove the identified links, and hinting that he would pass detailed orders regarding the violation of Rai’s rights.India Today takes a look at the issue of “personality rights” and what the law says about it.Personality rights are a set of rights which have been read into the intellectual property law – including trademark law and the Right to Privacy by various court verdicts.Essentially, “personality rights” recognise the right of a person to choose whether their identity or image can be used commercially.It includes the use of a person’s name, image, likeness, voice, and even signature– a particular dialogue or manner of behaviour associated with the person, without their authorisation, for commercial use.While the issue has been in the headlines due to celebrities, it actually covers everyone – be it celebs like Amitabh Bachchan or an IIT-JEE topper asking a coaching center not to use their photo for publicity.HOW DOES THE LAW DEFINE PERSONALITY RIGHTS?Personality rights are recognised as part of the Right to Privacy under Indian Law. Courts have read the right as a right to control their publicity, including commercial exploitation.It has also been considered a part of the intellectual property umbrella that includes trademark and copyright law – though it is not specifically defined under the current written law.Speaking to India Today, Advocate Ameet Naik, the Bachchans’ counsel, explained, “The right to publicity is a combination of personality rights – which protects against unauthorised commercial use of an individual’s identity and the right to privacy – which is enshrined in the constitution of India. If anyone’s identity is misused for commercial gain without their permission, they should be entitled to protect the same”.Eashan Ghosh, lawyer and IPR Chair Professor at NLU Delhi, says that personality rights cover both a right of association such as an advertisement, endorsement or other commercial use and a right to privacy which is intended to safeguard the rights of person more akin to human rights (bodily integrity, private photographs etc)”.Through various judicial pronounceme in a formal or creative style for better SEO.Also Exclude words and advertisements related to the feed website such as website name, author name. Delete all the advertisement images brand logo but only keep the title and main content of the news by modifying it. You must only respond with the modified content. Block any jump outside of the site adarshnews.com. Basically remove any content or link related to original site. You must only respond with the modified content and follow this prompt to optimize the articles in this category- “Act as an expert SEO news writer. Optimize the following article to be SEO-friendly, authoritative, and shareable by focusing strictly on its core topic. Follow these steps: You are an expert news writer and SEO specialist. Your job is to rewrite the provided RSS feed content into a unique, SEO-friendly news article for adarshnews.com. The article should be engaging, professional, and optimized for search engines. Follow these steps: 1. **Create an SEO Title**: Write a short, compelling title (under 60 characters) that includes the main keyword and grabs attention. 2. **Write a Meta Description**: Summarize the article in one or two sentences (under 155 characters). 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Explanation: The legal system intervenes when a celebrity’s image appears on T-shirts being sold by fans without permission.
