Recently, Jr NTR moved the Delhi High Court with a request for protecting his personality rights. The office of the Devara and Dragon actor today issued a statement regarding the verdict.
"The Court’s intervention follows a petition filed by the actor citing widespread unauthorised and commercial misuse of his identity across platforms. Taking note of the issue, the Hon’ble High Court granted protection to his personality rights," the statement reads.
Furthermore, here is what it says:
"The protection covers the unauthorised commercial use of his name and popular identifiers including “NTR”, “Jr. NTR”, “NTR Jr.”, “Tarak”, “Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr.”, “Jr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao” and his sobriquets such as “Man of Masses”, “Young Tiger” etc along with his image, likeness and related attributes. The Court has directed that any such unauthorised use, if found, must be removed in accordance with applicable laws.
Importantly, the Hon’ble Court has, at a prima facie stage, expressly recognised that Mr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR). has acquired celebrity status in India, having gained immense goodwill and reputation over the course of a successful career. The Court observed that his name, image and likeness are uniquely associated with him in the public mind, entitling him to proprietary rights over his personality and associated attributes.
The Hon’ble Court further recognised that personality and publicity rights are integral to the right to life and freedom under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India, and are enforceable through provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
In addition, intermediary platforms have been directed to treat the plaint as a statutory complaint under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and to act upon identified infringing links within the prescribed statutory timelines.
The Court has also passed directions against unidentified and anonymous entities (John Doe defendants), restraining any person, including online trolls and unknown offenders, from misappropriating or exploiting Mr. NTR’s personality and publicity rights, whether through merchandise, digital content, morphed images, AI-generated content, or any other technological means for commercial gain or misuse."
