Court protects Arijit's personality rights, orders removal of AI-generated content
In a significant ruling that could potentially shape the rights of artists, the Bombay High Court has granted relief to singer Arijit Singh. The court's decision came in response to Singh's petition against eight online platforms that were allegedly using artificial intelligence tools to create sound recordings that imitated his voice and mannerisms without his consent. The Court ruled that this was done for "commercial and personal gain."
Court orders protection of Singh's personality rights
Singh reportedly alleged that the circulation of memes and gifs led to "ridicule, embarrassment, and humiliation." Justice RI Chagla issued an interim order on July 26, directing the accused platforms to cease using Singh's "personality rights." The court also instructed these platforms to remove all content and voice conversion tools that infringed upon Singh's rights. Earlier, Anil Kapoor also won a similar legal battle, while Kumar Sanu expressed the desire to protect his personality rights.
Here's what the Court said in its ruling
Justice Chagla said, "What shocks the conscience of this Court is the manner in which celebrities, particularly performers such as the present Plaintiff are vulnerable to being targeted by unauthorised generative AI content such as that of some of the Defendants herein." "Making AI tools available that enable the conversion of any voice into that of a celebrity without his/her permission constitutes a violation of the celebrity's personality rights."
What does personality rights include?
Justice Chagla added, "Prima facie, I am of the view that the plaintiff's personality traits including his name, voice, photograph/ caricature, image, likeness, persona and other attributes of his personality are protectable elements of his personality rights." AI tools facilitate "unauthorized appropriation and manipulation" of a celebrity's voice, noted the Court, adding that the singer should get interim relief.
