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Delhi HC Issues Summons in Cricketer's Rights Suit

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued summons to the defendants in Indian cricketer Abhishek Sharma's suit seeking protection of his personality rights, while taking note of the submission that several allegedly offending URLs have since been removed.

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Justice Jyoti Singh issued summonses and notices to the defendants added in the suit, directing that they be served through their social media handles, available addresses and all other legally permissible modes. The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 17.

At the outset, Advocate Gaurav Bahl, appearing for Sharma, placed an additional affidavit on record and informed the Court that a few of the allegedly offending URLs had now been removed.

Details of the Suit and Court's Observations

Appearing for Meta Platforms, advocate Varun Pathak submitted that only two allegedly offending URLs remained on Meta's social media platforms. The Court thereafter examined the Facebook and Instagram posts in question and perused the tabulated list of URLs identified in the plaint.

During the hearing, Sharma's counsel sought an injunction against the defendant entities that had allegedly created hyperlinks enabling access to the impugned content. The Court, however, observed that the summons would first have to be served before considering the prayer for an interim injunction.

The suit concerns the alleged unauthorised use of Abhishek Sharma's name, image and likeness on online platforms, including AI-generated and digitally manipulated content.

Broader Context of Celebrity Rights Cases

At the previous hearing, the Court had examined the scope of personality rights while considering several URLs flagged by Sharma as allegedly infringing his rights. Justice Jyoti Singh observed that disputes involving online content often involve a "thin line" between defamation and personality rights, noting that there is some overlap between the two evolving areas of law.

Meta had contended that not every objectionable online post amounts to a personality rights violation and argued that requiring intermediaries to remove an ever-expanding list of URLs would effectively require them to "clean up the internet."

The case is among a series of personality rights matters before the Delhi High Court concerning the alleged misuse of celebrities' names, images and likenesses, particularly through AI-generated or digitally manipulated content. (ANI)