AI deepfakes threaten Bollywood: Why celebrities are demanding new identity protection laws

Here is where jurisprudence is evolving most rapidly. “We are in a legally ambiguous territory. Indian jurisprudence recognises personality rights through Article 21 jurisprudence. The precedents assume that there is a real-world appropriation of a real identity. AI complicates this because a generated face or voice may not be the celebrity’s exact face but may evoke them strongly,” says Probir Roy Chowdhury, Partner, JSA Advocates and Solicitors. That ambiguity lets creators argue that the work is “inspired” or “approximate,” not theft. “Identity misappropriation does not have to be literal replication. If an AI generated face, voice, style or persona is substantially evocative of a celebrity such that an average viewer would believe there is endorsement, association or involvement, courts can recognise this as actionable misuse,” Roy Chowdhury adds. Read more