Jackie Shroff, Bollywood icon has initiated legal proceedings to safeguard his identity and prevent unauthorized use of his name and persona. Appearing before the Delhi High Court, Jackie Shroff seeks an injunction against various entities, including social media platforms and AI applications, for using his name, especially the term ‘bhidu’, without his consent.
Jackie Shroff moves to High Court to protect his personality rights
Jackie Shroff’s move comes as a response to the rampant commercial exploitation of his identity. His lawyer, Pravin Anand, clarified that while Jackie Shroff is not against parody or satire, he aims to prevent the merchandising and defamatory use of his personality. “We are not against parody or satire, but we aim to prevent the merchandising and defamatory use of Jackie Shroff’s personality”, he said. The term ‘bhidu’, synonymous with Jackie Shroff’s persona, has been misused, leading to potential confusion among consumers. Jackie’s plea seeks protection for his names, including ‘Jackie Shroff’, ‘Jackie’, ‘Jaggu Dada’, and ‘bhidu’, arguing that these attributes should not be used without authorization.
During the court proceedings, Shroff’s counsel highlighted instances of offensive memes and morphed images that tarnish Shroff’s character. Anand argued that such activities not only mislead consumers into believing Shroff endorses certain products but also damage his reputation. The court issued summons to the defendant entities and listed the case for further hearing.
Jackie Shroff’s case highlights the importance of personality rights in protecting celebrities from unauthorized commercial use of their identity. This move follows similar actions by actors like Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, who have sought legal protection for their names and persona. In 2022, the High Court issued an interim order to protect Amitabh Bachchan’s personality rights, emphasizing the need to safeguard celebrities’ identity from misuse. Anil Kapoor last year moved to court and a similar order had been passed with regards to his famous slang word used very commonly “Jhakaas” which is associated with his personality.
The case is scheduled for a hearing on May 15, with the court possibly issuing an interim order to address the misuse of Shroff’s personality rights.
Representing Jackie Shroff, Advocate Pravin Anand, along with a team of lawyers from Anand and Naik, presented arguments highlighting the commercial value associated with Shroff’s persona. They emphasized the need to prevent the unauthorized use of Shroff’s attributes, including his name, voice, and image, on various platforms.
Justice Sanjeev Narula presided over the proceedings, acknowledging the seriousness of the matter and issuing summons to the defendant entities. The court is set to deliberate further on the issue of interim injunction to address the misuse of Shroff’s personality rights.
