Delhi HC grants interim protection to Kumar Sanu’s personality rights; orders takedown of infringing content : Bollywood News
The Delhi High Court has granted singer Kumar Sanu interim protection over his personality rights, restricting unauthorized use of his name, likeness, likeness and voice for commercial purposes.
Delhi HC grants interim protection to Kumar Sanu’s personality rights; orders removal of infringing content
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, who was presiding over the case of Kumar Sanu Bhattacharjee v. Jammable Limited & Ors., observed that prima facie, the famous singer’s personality traits are protectable elements of his identity. The temporary injunction will remain in effect until the next hearing, scheduled for March 30, 2026.
“Prima facie, the personality traits of the applicant and/or parts thereof, including the name of the applicant Kumar Sanu, voice, image, photograph or likeness and other attributes are protectable elements of the personality rights of the applicant. The applicant has the right to protect himself against morphed and distorted content which is demeaning,” the Court said in its order.
The Court also referred to previous decisions regarding the personality rights of Bollywood personalities such as Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar and Jackie Shroff.
As part of its interim directions, the court ordered Amazon and Flipkart to remove ads that violate Kumar Sanu’s personality rights and restrained two e-commerce sellers from selling any merchandise featuring his name, photo or likeness without permission.
Google and Meta have been asked to remove the illegal content identified in Sanu’s petition, as well as any new material flagged by the singer in the future. Additionally, both platforms were ordered to provide basic subscriber information (BSI) of the anonymous accounts responsible for sharing this content within three weeks.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have also been directed to suspend URLs, websites and mobile applications that misuse Sanu’s identity and take similar action against any new cases brought to their attention.
Allegations of AI misuse and unauthorized content
The Court’s decision follows a Rs 2 crore suit filed by the playback legend against several AI-based platforms, online intermediaries, digital entities and unidentified individuals accused of creating fake, morphed and spoofed content in his name.
According to Sanu, the accused misused his personality to sell merchandise, impersonated him on social media and even developed a mobile application on the Google Play Store using his image and voice. The suit alleged that AI-generated sound recordings imitating his voice and GIFs caricaturing him damaged his reputation and subjected him to “nasty humor” online.
Represented by lawyer Sana Raees Khan, Sanu argued that such acts violated his right to privacy, goodwill and reputation, besides violating the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957. The suit pointed out that his stage names – “Kumar Sanu”, “Sanu Da” and the title “The Melody King of Bollywood” – benefit from dual protection under personality/publicity rights and trademark law.
Kumar Sanu reacts
Following the court’s decision, Kumar Sanu expressed his gratitude on social media, crediting his legal team and the judiciary for recognizing the artists’ rights. He wrote, “I am deeply grateful to my lawyer, Sana Raees Khan, for her powerful and masterful arguments which led to this significant victory in court. My heartfelt thanks to the honorable Delhi High Court for recognizing and upholding my personality rights.”
Also read: Kunickaa Sadanand’s old remarks on rape in Bollywood resurface; Jaan Kumar Sanu REACTS strongly
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