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Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor recently approached the Delhi High Court seeking legal protection against the unauthorized commercial use of her identity and personality rights across digital platforms. The actress filed a comprehensive civil suit requesting the immediate removal of over 5,000 URLs, social media posts, impersonating accounts, AI-generated pornographic material, and fake booking channels that allegedly exploited her image without consent. While presiding over the matter, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani granted interim relief regarding explicit and obscene content, ordering online platforms to strictly take down sexually explicit material and AI-generated pornographic imagery involving the star. However, the court drew a firm boundary when it came to shutting down fan clubs and general online pages, declining her request for a blanket ban on fan accounts operating across social media.
During the hearing, the Delhi High Court expressed strong reservations about the growing trend of celebrities seeking sweeping restrictions on digital discourse, remarking that personality rights cases were beginning to go out of hand. Addressing the legal team representing Janhvi Kapoor, the bench emphasized that public figures cannot claim total immunity from public commentary, satire, or admiration in the digital age. Justice Bhambhani noted that fan pages perform a wide variety of roles online, ranging from complimentary posts and creative fan art to constructive criticism and satire. The court cautioned that enforcing a complete shutdown of all fan communities would severely undermine fundamental free speech principles, lightheartedly warning that demanding such extreme censorship would leave public figures living in a cave isolated from their audience.
The bench also carefully examined the complex legal boundary between copyright ownership and personality rights, questioning whether selling copyrighted photographs or artwork featuring a celebrity automatically constitutes unauthorized commercial exploitation. Counsel representing Meta opposed the blanket takedown plea, arguing that examining thousands of links without individual scrutiny was unfeasible and that genuine fan pages often operate with livelihood interests or creative intent protected under freedom of expression. Acknowledging these nuances, the court directed Janhvi Kapoor’s legal team to narrow down their request and submit a specific, tabulated list focusing strictly on ex-facie obscene material, fake agency booking portals, and pages directly monetizing her name to sell unauthorized merchandise. Asking lawyers from both sides to assist in establishing clear limits around personality rights litigation, the court scheduled the next hearing for August 17 to further refine the scope of digital protection for public figures.
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