High Court of Delhi — Infringing sellers (Jr NTR personality rights)

Decided by

High Court of Delhi

Parties

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao v. Ashok Kumar / John Doe and Ors

Decision date

December 22, 2025

Remedy

The court granted an interim injunction restraining the defendants from using or exploiting the plaintiff's name, likeness, and AI-generated content for commercial gain, and ordered the removal of infringing product links within 72 hours.

Appeal

Appeal status not stated

Key holdings

1. Celebrity status inherently grants individual proprietary rights over their personality and associated attributes.

   “this celebrity status inherently grants the Plaintiff proprietary rights over her personality and associated attributes.” — paragraph 29

2. A celebrity is entitled to an injunction against third parties using their personality rights for unauthorized commercial merchandise sales.

   “The Plaintiff is entitled to seek injunction against the use of his personality rights by third parties for selling merchandise for their commercial gains, without his authorisation.” — paragraph 30

3. Defendants are restrained from exploiting the plaintiff's personality rights through products created using artificial intelligence or other technologies without authorization.

   “restrained from violating the Plaintiff's personality rights by utilizing and/or in any manner directly and / or indirectly, using or exploiting or misappropriating the Plaintiff's personality/ publicity rights” — paragraph 32.a

4. E-commerce platforms cannot adopt a passive stance when specific complaints regarding rights violations are submitted.

   “in the considered opinion of this Court these entities cannot have a hands-off approach.” — paragraph 36

In plain English

Indian actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, also known as Jr. NTR, filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Delhi to protect his personality and publicity rights. The actor alleged that various individual sellers and online merchants were selling unauthorized merchandise, including clothing, mugs, and posters, that featured his name, photographs, and likeness. He also raised concerns regarding unauthorized artificial intelligence content, morphed digital media, and deepfakes that exploited his persona for commercial profit without authorization. The High Court of Delhi ruled in favor of the actor, finding that his celebrity status grants him exclusive proprietary rights over his name, image, and associated attributes. The court determined that unauthorized commercial exploitation causes financial loss, consumer deception, and irreparable damage to his reputation. Consequently, the court issued an urgent interim injunction restraining defendants from using his name, likeness, or artificial intelligence content for commercial gain. The court ordered infringing sellers and e-commerce platforms to take down specified links within 72 hours. Furthermore, the court criticized e-commerce marketplaces for adopting a passive stance, clarifying that platforms cannot take a hands-off approach when notified of rights violations. This decision reinforces legal protections for public figures against unauthorized digital and physical commercial exploitation in India.