Delhi High Court Grants Interim Relief to Jubin Nautiyal in Personality Rights Case
In Jubin Nautiyal v Jammable Limited & Ors, the Delhi High Court granted interim protection to singer Jubin Nautiyal against unauthorised use of his personality. The order shields his name, voice, singing style, image and likeness from misuse across digital platforms.
The interim direction was passed on February 19 by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. The Court restrained several artificial intelligence platforms, websites and online portals from exploiting the singer’s persona without his consent.
The Court also directed blocking and removal of links, videos, websites and mobile applications that were found to be violating his personality and publicity rights. The protection extends to misuse on social media, commercial platforms and even virtual spaces.
Nautiyal approached the High Court claiming that certain AI-based platforms were cloning his voice and imitating his singing style using generative artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. According to the suit, digital avatars and deepfake content were created without his authorisation.
The plea further referred to instances of face morphing, synthetic voice models and chatbots allegedly built around his persona. It was argued that such activities not only misused his identity but also caused serious harm to his professional reputation.
After hearing the matter, the Court noted that the damage to the singer’s image appeared to be real and ongoing. The bench found that the legal requirements for granting interim relief were satisfied in the present case.
“In the considered opinion of this Court, the plaintiff has a prima facie strong case and having regard to his well-known, popular and well-accepted personality, the balance of convenience is tilted in favour of the plaintiff. In case, ex-parte ad-interim injunction and other directions, as sought, are not passed, the irreparable loss and injury which may occasion may not be compensated in monetary terms,” the Court observed.
Based on this finding, the Court restrained the defendants from using or misappropriating the singer’s personality traits for commercial or personal gain. The order specifically prohibits creation or circulation of AI-generated voice models, digital avatars and other imitative content.
During the hearing, the Court also questioned the maintainability of the suit before the Delhi High Court. It asked how territorial jurisdiction would apply when the singer is based in Uttarakhand and some defendants are located abroad.
The matter highlights growing judicial concern over misuse of celebrity identities through artificial intelligence tools. The case marks another step in strengthening personality rights protection in the digital age.
