Actor and businessman Vivek Oberoi has approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his publicity and personality rights, alleging large-scale misuse of his identity through fake social media accounts, unauthorised merchandise, and AI-generated content, including deepfake imagery. This comes amid an uptick in celebrities, from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan to NTR Jr, seeking judicial intervention.
Vivek Oberoi moves Delhi HC for personality rights
The civil suit, filed against Collector Bazar, ZoomMantra, Indiacontent, and others, including unidentified parties named as John Doe defendants, seeks a permanent injunction restraining infringement of Oberoi’s personality and publicity rights. The suit has been filed through advocates Sana Raees Khan and Pranay Chitale.
According to the petition, Oberoi has asserted that his name, image, voice, likeness, and other distinctive attributes exclusively associated with him are being unlawfully exploited for commercial and other gains without his consent or authorisation.
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The plea states that the defendants are engaged in impersonating Oberoi on social media platforms such as Instagram by creating fake accounts using his name and images. It further alleges that unauthorised merchandise bearing his name and likeness, including posters, T-shirts, and postcards, is being sold across various e-commerce platforms.
Importantly, the suit flags the creation and dissemination of AI-generated content that allegedly misrepresents facts and falsely depicts the actor in a derogatory, insulting, and demeaning manner. The petition also highlights the use of artificial intelligence and deepfake technology to morph and superimpose Oberoi’s face onto objectionable and distasteful imagery.
In view of this, Oberoi has sought an omnibus “John Doe” injunction against unknown persons found violating his rights.
Claiming that he has already suffered and is likely to suffer irreparable harm to his goodwill, reputation, and business interests, the actor has urged the court to pass urgent directions. The reliefs sought include the removal of unauthorised postcards, posters, videos, and social media posts, along with restraining further misuse of his identity in any form.
Vivek Oberoi upcoming movies
The actor is now gearing up for several high-profile ventures, including Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit alongside Prabhas and Triptii Dimri. He is also a part of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, co-starring Ranbir Kapoor. Marking another significant milestone in his comeback, reports suggest that Vivek Oberoi has also joined Rishab Shetty’s ambitious historical epic, The Pride of Bharat: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
