The Delhi High Court yesterday decided to make an interim order directing the removal of several social media posts, online links and commercial listings that are allegedly misusing the personality rights of Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma, which is a violation of his personality rights, on Thursday.
Justice Jyoti Singh, hearing Sharma's plea, said an interim order would be issued for the takedown of infringing content while the case goes on. The court also issued summons to the defendants named in the suit and directed that notices be served through social media platforms and other legally permissible modes.
They are expected to attend the next hearing on November 17.
Cricketer is seeking protection of personality rights.
While appearing for Sharma, Advocate Gaurav Bahl told the court that an additional affidavit containing URLs of objectionable content had been filed.
He said that although some offending links had been removed, some content was still available online. According to the counsel, there were still two social media posts on Facebook and Instagram and another post that contained offensive content.
The petition also highlighted unauthorised commercial use of Sharma's name and likeness on online marketplaces. Amazon and Flipkart were the two sites in which Sharma is alleged to have been promoted without his consent.
Meta, Amazon Assure Compliance
Advocate Varun Pathak, representing Meta, told the High Court that only two disputed URLs remained active in the company's platforms and he assured the court they would be removed.
Counsel for Amazon also informed the court that it would take down the infringing listings, subject to the court's order.
Justice Jyoti Singh took note of these and said the court would issue directions for the removal of the remaining infringing content.
Court Issues Summons
Sharma's counsel asked for a quick injunction against any entity that may be manipulating hyperlinks to the original material, but the court said it would first issue summons and allow the defendants an opportunity to respond before taking on more permanent relief.
The High Court formally issued summons in the suit, called Abhishek Sharma v. John Doe & Ors, and began court action with unidentified and named defendants who violate the cricketer's personality rights.
An Increasing trend of Personality Rights Protection.
The Delhi High Court has recently issued several landmark rulings which protect the personality rights of celebrities, public figures and content creators from unauthorised commercial use, fake endorsements, AI-generated content and misleading social media posts.
Among those who have received similar protection are politicians Ravi Kishan, Shashi Tharoor and Pawan Kalyan, entrepreneur Aman Gupta, actors Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Kajol, R. Madhavan, NTR Jr., Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Nagarjuna and filmmaker Karan Johar.
The court has also granted protection to spiritual leader Aniruddhacharya, singer Jubin Nautiyal, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, journalist Sudhir Chaudhary and podcaster Raj Shamani, reflecting a growing judicial concern of protecting individuals from the misuse of their identity in the digital age.
Abhishek Sharma is now one of many public figures looking for legal protection from unauthorised exploitation of public image, name, and reputation on social media and e-commerce platforms.
