Bombay High Court shields Samantha from AI deepfakes

In a landmark order, the Bombay High Court on Thursday barred AI platforms, e-commerce portals and digital media from using Samantha Ruth Prabhu's name, image or voice without permission. The court ordered takedowns of deepfakes and morphed content, finding a prima facie breach of her personality and publicity rights.

Justice Madhav Jamdar granted interim protection after finding that non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes and morphed imagery infringed the actor's personality, publicity and moral rights. The court anchored those rights in the Constitution's guarantee of free expression, the right to life, privacy and human dignity, and the performer's moral rights under the Copyright Act.

The suit casts a wide net — 18 defendants in all, including Meta, Google, Amazon, AI developers and digital media outlets, plus "John Doe" parties for unknown infringers. The IT Ministry and the telecom department were also made parties so the court's directions can actually be enforced.

Samantha sought permanent injunctions, takedowns and damages alongside the John Doe mechanism. The ruling adds her to a growing list of Indian stars winning court-backed protection for their digital likeness as generative AI tools spread.