Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan has filed a suit before the Delhi High Court seeking protection of her personality rights, alleging unauthorized commercial use and manipulation of her images.

The matter came up before Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi appeared for Bachchan. He submitted that one of the defendants had circulated morphed and impersonated images of the actress online, while several others were allegedly selling merchandise and products using her photographs without authorization.

When reference was made to the use of her image in movie posters, the Court observed that such posters are generally copyrighted by the film’s producers or rights holders, not the actor personally. Justice Arora remarked, “Copyright is not vested with you but with whoever is owner of the movie.”

Sethi further pointed out that certain YouTube and Instagram accounts were posting defamatory and manipulated images and videos involving Bachchan. One YouTube channel, he said, was engaged in spreading defamatory content.

As only counsel for Google was present, the Court directed Bachchan’s legal team to refile the plaint and ensure service of notice to the Union of India and platforms including eBay, Facebook, and Amazon. The Court noted several typographical errors and asked for correction before passing further orders.

“You need to refile the plaint. There are many typographical errors. I will pass the order but you refile it in two days. Please refile the application also,” Justice Arora stated.

The matter is scheduled to be taken up again at 1:25 PM.

This case follows recent orders by the Delhi High Court safeguarding personality rights of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actor Nagarjuna, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, and journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, particularly in cases involving impersonation, AI-generated content, and commercial exploitation.

Case Title: Jaya Bachchan v. Bollywood Bubble & Ors.