Abhishek Sharma's AI image case: HC flags 'thin line' between personality rights & defamation

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday examined the evolving scope of personality rights while hearing a suit filed by India cricketer Abhishek Sharma, who has sought protection against the alleged unauthorised use of his name, image and likeness across online platforms, including AI-generated content.The matter came up before Justice Jyoti Singh, who closely examined several web links identified by Sharma as allegedly violating his personality rights. During the hearing, the Court also made significant observations on the increasingly complex relationship between personality rights and defamation in the digital age.Delhi HC flags overlap between personality rights and defamationWhile considering the rival submissions, Justice Singh observed that disputes involving online content often blur the distinction between defamation and personality rights."We also find this every day where there is a thin line between defamation and personality rights. It is in a flux. There is a little overlap. Defamatory matter may have personality rights element," Justice Singh observed.The Court's remarks came as it considered whether the disputed online content merely involved objectionable speech or amounted to an unauthorised exploitation of Sharma's identity through artificial intelligence.Dispute centres around AI-altered imageAppearing for Meta, advocate Varun Pathak informed the Court that of the eight URLs presently under consideration, two were no longer accessible. Referring to one of the remaining links, Pathak submitted that it appeared to be a "paparazzi kind of" post and, in his view, did not amount to a violation of personality rights.Sharma's counsel, however, strongly disagreed with that characterisation.Advocate Thakur, appearing for the cricketer, argued that the case did not involve an ordinary paparazzi photograph. Instead, he submitted that an original image of Sharma with his manager had allegedly been manipulated using artificial intelligence by altering its appearance and context, resulting in a misleading AI-generated image.According to the plaintiff, the digitally altered image falsely conveyed a different impression and amounted to an unauthorised use of Sharma's personality and identity.Responding to the Court's observations, Pathak argued that false or objectionable statements concerning an individual would ordinarily fall within the domains of defamation or privacy rather than personality rights.He further submitted that expanding personality rights claims to encompass all adverse online content would create serious practical difficulties for intermediaries.According to Meta, Sharma had initially approached the Court with around 25 URLs, but the number of allegedly infringing links later increased to nearly 4,000.Pathak argued that accepting such an expansive interpretation would effectively require intermediaries to "clean up the internet" of content critical of the plaintiff, irrespective of whether it actually infringed personality rights.Matter posted for further hearingAfter hearing both sides, the Delhi High Court deferred further consideration of the matter until July 9, observing that certain issues relating to the plaint required attention.The suit is among a growing number of personality rights cases before the Delhi High Court involving celebrities seeking protection against the unauthorised commercial use or AI-driven manipulation of their names, photographs, likenesses and identities.With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence tools capable of generating realistic images and videos, courts are increasingly being asked to examine claims involving deepfakes, digitally altered content and the unauthorised use of public personalities.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.