Delhi HC grants interim relief to Vivek Oberoi, orders takedown of deepfake

The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection to actor and businessman Vivek Anand Oberoi in a commercial suit alleging widespread misuse of his personality and publicity rights through fake social media accounts unauthorised merchandise and AIgenerated contentThe court issued notice in the matter and passed an ex parte adinterim injunction restraining several entities and unknown persons from exploiting his name image voice and other identifiable attributesThe order was passed by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela in a plea where Oberoi sought protection against what he described as largescale misappropriation of his identity for commercial and personal gainThe court observed that prima facie the actor had established a strong case and that irreparable harm could be caused to his reputation and personality if immediate protection was not grantedAfter examining the plaint and the documents placed on record the court noted that Oberoi is an accomplished actor and entrepreneur with a longstanding public reputation and goodwill It recorded that attributes such as his name voice image likeness signature and style of dialogue delivery are uniquely associated with him and deserve protection from unauthorised useThe court held that the material placed on record indicated the existence of fake accounts morphed videos AIgenerated content and merchandise being circulated without authorisation falsely suggesting association or endorsementIt further observed that the balance of convenience was in favour of the plaintiff and that the potential damage to his image could not be compensated monetarilyAccordingly the court restrained defendants and unknown persons from using or exploiting Oberois personality traits including through artificial intelligence deepfakes facemorphing or other technologies across physical and digital platforms It also prohibited the creation or dissemination of products and content that could dilute or tarnish his personaThe court directed several defendants and online intermediaries to take down infringing links listed in AnnexureA within 72 hours and to provide details such as IP addresses and account information related to the offending content within three weeksIn his plea Oberoi stated that multiple parties were impersonating him by creating fake accounts and using his photographs name and likeness to promote content and products The plaint also alleges that AI tools were used to morph his face onto videos and create misleading material sometimes with false informationThe court noted that defendants included traders selling posters and merchandise as well as online platforms hosting infringing videos and content Government departments were made proforma parties to facilitate implementation of court directionsThe court issued a summons in the main suit and directed the defendants to file their written statements within 30 days of receipt The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar on April 27 2026 for completion of service and pleadings and before the court on August 5 2026This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever