Need for a Comprehensive Indian Law Regulating Personality Rights

Personality rights are the rights of a person in relation to their personality. These rights are mostly important to celebrities because it is their personality and popularity that is exploited for commercial gains, and if exploited without their consent, could cause harm to their reputation. Personality rights can be divided into right to privacy and right to publicity. In the absence of a pre-existing statute in the area, judicial activism has widened the scope of personality rights in India. So far only Article 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India afford protection. Aside from trademarks, patents, copyrights and designs, now individuals, especially celebrities seek to protect their personality rights, thanks to the dynamic nature of this area of law. The situation has turned more quizzical for the legal fraternity as the advent of Artificial Intelligence has begun to push boundaries of identity with technologies like GAI and Deepfake. There is a huge lacuna in the Indian Laws since there is no recourse under Copyright Act, 1957 in the case of non-consensual commercial exploitation of a celebrity’s features such as style, likeness or voice. Because these things when generated by AI neither fall under ‘work’ as defined under the Act, nor are they regulated b Performers’ rights. This research paper seeks to delve into the nuances of existing law supporting celebrity rights, the lacunae and the necessary features that have to be included in a new, comprehensive law to fill the lacunae.