The document discusses right to publicity and personality rights in India. It provides details on key cases where celebrities have invoked their personality rights, including cases involving Daler Mehndi, Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Nigam, and Rajinikanth. It also outlines how personality rights have been developed through case law referencing privacy rights under the Constitution and potential contractual breaches when licenses are violated. In conclusion, it argues for a statute to formally protect publicity rights in India.

1. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
RIGHT TO PUBLICITY &
POSSIBLE CONTRACUTAL
BREACH
By Ponkavitha.A
Trademark Dept.

2. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
RIGHT TO PUBLICITY
• The right of publicity, often called personality
rights, is the right of an individual to control
the commercial use of his or her name, image,
likeness, or other unequivocal aspects of one's
identity.
• It is generally considered a property right as
opposed to a personal right, and as such, the
validity of the right of publicity can survive the
death of the individual (to varying degrees
depending on the jurisdiction

3. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
INDIAN LAW
India, like the UK, does not have an independent
legislative provision protecting an individual’s right
of publicity. This right has largely been enforced in
India under the common law tort of passing off, to
establish which it is necessary to show that
i) the personality has reputation,
ii) there was misrepresentation of the personality
creating likelihood of confusion and
iii)there was actual damage or likelihood of damage.

4. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
THE TRADE MARKS
ACT,1999
Although Section 2(1)(m) of the Trade Marks Act
that defines ‘marks’ also includes names within
its ambit – the Act does not make any specific
provision for Publicity or Personality Rights.
While Indian courts have so far had little
opportunity to debate over the question of
publicity or personality rights, it is expected that
discussions based on different elements of the
Right to Publicity will pave the way for its legal
recognition.

5. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
PERSONALITY RIGHTS
• In India, personality rights, often called Right of Publicity or
Image Rights, have developed primarily through case laws.
• But personality rights are generally invoked through the Right
to Privacy guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution or
through the Right to Publicity inferred from Article 19.
• These rights usually allow for claims of injunction and
damages.
• Movie named Main Hoon Rajinikanth was about to hit the
theatres, and the real Rajinikanth was quick to obtain
injunction from Madras High Court saying it violated his
“personality rights”. The actor contended that the film could
defame him and upset his fan base. He also stated that the
producer neither approached him nor got his consent —
either written or oral — to use his name/ caricature/image/
style of delivering dialogue.

6. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CASE LAWS
• One of the earliest instances where a celebrity
successfully sued those who tried to profit from his
personality was when singer Daler Mehndi went to
court against gift shops that were selling dolls
resembling him. This was in 2001, when his
song Tunak Tunak Tun became a huge hit and
Mehndi became wildly popular. The Delhi High
Court observed that his personality was infused in
the dolls and used for commercial gain, which
amounted to publicity rights violation.

7. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CASE LAWS
• In 2012, in the Titan Industries Limited vs M/s Ramkumar
Jewellers case.
• FACTS : Ramkumar Jewellers made unauthorised use of a picture
of Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan on their billboards. The
very same picture that showed the celebrity couple endorsing the
diamond jewellery brand owned by Titan. The defendant had
neither sought permission from the couple nor from the plaintiff to
use the image.
• JUDGMENT : The Delhi High Court ruled that it had not only
infringed the latter’s copyright but also misappropriated the
couple’s personality rights. The court said: “When the identity of a
famous personality is used in advertising without their permission,
the complaint is not that no one should not commercialise their
identity but that the right to control when, where and how their
identity is used should vest with the famous personality.”

8. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CASE LAWS
• Singer Sonu Nigam won a case against another singer, Mika
Singh, for the violation of his personality rights. Singh had
put up hoardings with pictures of himself and other artistes,
including Nigam, performing at an awards function. What
irked Nigam was that the hoardings contained an enlarged
image of Singh while the images of the other artistes
including Nigam were several times smaller. Since Nigam’s
picture had been used without his consent, the Bombay High
Court ruled that Singh had to pay a compensation of Rs 10
lakh to Nigam for infringing his personality, publicity and
image rights.
• Actress Sridevi slapped a legal notice on filmmaker Ram
Gopal Verma for using her name in a movie with risque
content.

9. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CASE LAWS
• Amitabh Bachchan spoke out against the unethical use of a
deep baritone like his own in the voiceover of an
advertisement for gutkha — an association, he claimed, was
detrimental to his image.
Clearly, celebrities have become very aware of their
personality these rights are not absolute and that there are
reasonable restrictions on them. In other words, a person will
not be liable for publicity rights violation if his or her use of a
celebrity’s persona amounts to free speech and expression,
which includes news reporting, caricature, lampooning,
parody, films, songs and so on.

10. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
POSSIBLE CONTRACTUAL
BREACH
• There is a breach of contract when in the entertainment industry
when a model or actor enters into a license agreement,
permitting the licensee to use her image in advertisements for a
certain period of time, and the licensee ends up using her image
past the term, but in the same manner to which she had
previously consented.
• The purpose of the lawsuit is to simply protect a right to payment
for defendant’s use of a quasi-intellectual property right and
intellectual property claim for economic damages.
This scenario implicates contract law, as the court has to interpret
the conditions and terms of the license agreement to determine
what the licensee’s obligations are after the contract term
expires, i.e., does the licensee have a contractual duty to destroy
or recall previously published advertisements and the permitted
scope of use of the celebrity’s image after the contract expires.

11. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Youth
• Pan Bahar’s new advertisementfeaturing Pierce Brosnan was met
with much incredulity, leading to his ridicule on social media.
• Brosnan reacted that he was “deeply shocked and
saddened” about his alleged endorsement of pan masala. He
apologised, explaining that it was Pan Bahar’s “unauthorized and
deceptive use of his image to endorse their range of pan masala
products”.
• Brosnan revealed that his contract with the company was only to
advertise a breath freshener/tooth whitener, which had been
presented as “all natural, containing neither tobacco, supari, nor
any other harmful ingredient.” , and claimed that they had “grossly
manipulated” the advertisement and violated their contract to
make him out to be the brand ambassador for their entire line of
products.Pan Bahar has stated that it did not violate the contract
with Brosnan, as their product “does not contain any nicotine or
tobacco”. There are efforts to resolve the confusion between the

12. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONCLUSION
NEED FOR A STATUTE FOR PROTECTION OF PUBLICITY RIGHTS :
i) Publicity involves immense amounts of money and the public image
of a celebrity is of tremendous value. Recognizing this valuable asset
as a property would mean that the same would be subject of taxation
as a capital asset just like any other intellectual property.
ii) This gives economic incentive to the public for carrying out socially
enriching activities.
iii) The celebrities are adequately rewarded for their moral claim over
any money flowing from their fame which they have crated by putting
in enough time and effort.

13. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com