The Delhi High Court has granted singer Kumar Sanu interim protection over his personality rights, restraining the unauthorized use of his name, likeness, image, and voice for commercial purposes.
Delhi HC grants interim protection to Kumar Sanu’s personality rights; orders takedown of infringing content
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, presiding over the case Kumar Sanu Bhattacharjee vs Jammable Limited & Ors., observed that prima facie, the celebrated singer’s personality traits are protectable elements of his identity. The interim injunction will remain in effect until the next hearing, scheduled for March 30, 2026.
“Prima facie, the Plaintiff’s personality traits and/or parts thereof, including Plaintiff’s name Kumar Sanu, voice, image, photograph or likeness and other attributes are protectable elements of the Plaintiff’s personality rights. The Plaintiff is entitled to protect itself against morphed and distorted content which is demeaning,” the Court stated in its order.
The Court also drew reference to earlier rulings concerning the personality rights of Bollywood figures such as Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar, and Jackie Shroff.
As part of its interim directions, the Court ordered Amazon and Flipkart to remove listings that violate Kumar Sanu’s personality rights and restrained two e-commerce sellers from selling any merchandise featuring his name, photo, or likeness without authorization.
Google and Meta were directed to take down infringing content identified in Sanu’s petition, as well as any fresh 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 such content within three weeks.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) were also instructed to suspend URLs, websites, and mobile applications found to be misusing Sanu’s identity and take similar action against any new instances brought to their attention.
Allegations of AI Misuse and Unauthorized Content
The Court’s decision came in response to a Rs 2 crores suit filed by the playback legend against several AI-based platforms, online intermediaries, digital entities, and unidentified individuals accused of creating fake, morphed, and impersonated content in his name.
According to Sanu, the defendants misused his persona 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 had caused reputational damage and subjected him to “unsavoury humour” online.
Represented by Advocate Sana Raees Khan, Sanu argued that such acts infringed his right to privacy, goodwill, and reputation, in addition to violating the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957. The suit emphasized that his stage names — “Kumar Sanu,” “Sanu Da,” and the title “The Melody King of Bollywood” — enjoy dual protection under personality/publicity rights and trademark law.
Kumar Sanu Reacts
Following the court’s ruling, Kumar Sanu expressed gratitude on social media, acknowledging his legal team and the judiciary for recognizing artists’ rights. He wrote, “I am deeply grateful to my advocate, Sana Raees Khan, for her powerful and masterful arguments that led to this significant victory in court. My heartfelt thanks to the Hon’ble Delhi High Court for recognizing and upholding my Personality Rights.”
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