Allu Arjun moves Delhi HC: Telugu icon Allu Arjun on Friday approached the Delhi High Court (HC), seeking protection of his personality rights on an urgent note amid mounting concerns over the misuse of his identity in the digital space. Justice at the High Court, Tushar Rao Gedela heard the matter and indicated that an interim order in this regard could soon be passed in the favour of the Pushpa actor.

The move comes amid increasing alarm among public figures over unauthorised use of their likeness in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Petition mentions concerns over AI cloning, fake apps

Arjun, in his petition, urged the court to restrain individuals and entities from using his name, voice, image and other personal attributes without explicit consent. The plea also shed light on instances where Arjun’s identity had allegedly been exploited for commercial gain, including merchandise and profit-driven digital content. Senior advocate Swathi Sukumar, who was representing the actor, flagged several cases of misuse, particularly the ones involving AI-generated material and voice-cloning technologies. She voiced a particular concern, where a so-called fake-call ‘Pushpa application,’ had been created. The app allows users to interact with a highly realistic AI version of the actor. 

Towards the end, the petition warned that such tools could highly be misused for committing frauds, impersonation and misinformation, potentially damaging the actor’s reputation and misleading the general public. 

Allu Arjun moves Delhi HC: Tech platforms act

During the proceedings, representatives from tech giants Meta and Google informed the court that several offensive links, application and unauthorised products in the actor’s name had already been taken down. Some platforms confirmed that they have removed the merchandise exploiting Arjun’s identity. 

The plea further emphasised that Arjun holds registered trademarks over his name, strengthening his legal position against unauthorised commercial usage. 

These celebrities been granted relief by the court

Notable public figures and celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karan Johar, Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha have taken similar recourse in recent years, and were granted relief by the court.  On the professional front, Allu Arjun is buckling up for his next pan-India project, ‘Raaka,’ which is currently under production.

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