Recently, the Bombay High Court granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction restraining Codible Ventures LLP and Ors. (“Defendants”) from violating the personality and publicity rights of the renowned singer, Arijit Singh (“Plaintiff”), by employing AI tools for creating duplicate recordings, and mimicking his voice, vocal techniques and other attributable characteristics, in any manner whatsoever.
The Plaintiff submitted that as a well-known singer and celebrity, holds the right to control the use of his personality traits, and any misappropriation thereof, for a commercial purpose, is liable to be restrained not only on the basis of publicity rights, but also the tort of dilution, specifically, tarnishment. The Defendants used AI tools to allow users of their platform to mimic the Plaintiff’s voice. The Plaintiff stated that such unauthorized distortion, mutilation, or dissemination of the Plaintiff’s performances amounts to violation of his moral rights under copyright law and have diminished his control over the commercial use of his persona.
The court acknowledged the Plaintiff’s concerns and highlighted the increased targeting of artists through unauthorized generative AI. The court stated that the Defendants’ unauthorized and exploitative use cannot be shielded under the constitutional freedom of speech and expression, which allows for critique and commentary, but does not grant the license to exploit a celebrity’s persona for commercial gain. The court satisfied that the Plaintiff had met the requirements of establishing personality and publicity rights, i.e., by establishing (i) the celebrity status of the plaintiff, (ii) that the plaintiff is identifiable from the defendant’s unauthorized use, and (iii) that such use is for commercial gain, restrained the Defendants from use of the Plaintiff’s likeness and persona, in any manner whatsoever.
Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP, COM IPR SUIT (L) NO.23443 OF 2024, Judgement dt. July 26, 2024 Click here to view the Judgement Copy
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