In India, the rights of a fictional character and personality rights of celebrities are protected under the Copyright Act, 1957, Trademark Act, 1999, etc. In a recent case before the Delhi High Court, Amitabh Bachchan sought protection of his personality rights against the fake Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) lottery scam wherein his name, images, voice and other personality attributes were being used to deceive the public. The High Court granted an interim injunction while interpreting publicity rights as an extension of the right to privacy. The Court observed that the defendants were misusing the celebrity status of Bachchan to promote their own goods and services, without his permission or authorization. It relied on its earlier decision in Titan Industries Ltd v. M/s Ramkumar Jewellers, where it had recognized publicity rights of a celebrity as follows:
“When the identity of a famous personality is used in advertising without their permission, the complaint is not that no one should not commercialize their identity but that the right to control when, where and how their identity is used should vest with the famous personality. The right to control commercial use of human identity is the right to publicity.”
Source: Barandbench
