Character and celebrity

merchandizing –
Personality rights
 WHAT IS CHARACTER
MERCHANDISING
01
Character merchandising is a promotion
technique using which goods and services
resembling famous fictional or non-fiction
characters are made for drawing the
attention of customers. The following are
some examples of character merchandise: A
t-shirt with an image of Joey
Tribbiani ,Pokémon soft toy, Harry Potter
chess boards ,Motu Patlu water bottle.
02
It is a medium by which a famous
personality and the creators of a fictional
character or real character commercially
exploit or authorize someone else through
third-party agreements to exploit the
personality features like name, image,
appearance, sound, etc. of these characters
in relation to some goods or service
03
The toy industry was the first to recognize
the use of popular characters and today is
still the largest market. Walt Disney initiated
the organized system of character
merchandising in the 1930s by selling T-
shirts, badges, posters with its famous
cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse,
Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARACTER
MERCHANDISING
FICTIONAL AND CARTOON
MERCHANDISING

It involves the use of the essential personality features

(name, image, etc.) of fictional characters in the
marketing and/or advertising of goods or services. The
characters are originated from, literary works being
adapted to a cartoon such as Pinnochio and Alice in
Wonderland, cartoons originally for films such as Mickey
Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck or for cartoons
for comic strips such as Tintin, Astérix, and Batman.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARACTER
MERCHANDISING
PERSONALITY MERCHANDISING

which includes merchandising of the person who plays the character and not the
character only. A prime example of this is Iron Man; for example, the t-shirts that are
red and gold can easily be associated to Iron Man and people buy it because of such
association. On the other hand, if a cricketer is endorsing a deodorant brand, then
people, owing to the distinct personality acquired by the cricketer, will buy the
product because the cricketer is associated with that brand.

In D.M. Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. v. Baby Gift House and Ors. 2010, The Delhi High Court
validated the transfer of trademark on Daler Mehndi’s name by the singer to his company.
In this case, the defendant was selling dolls that looked like Daler Mehndi and danced to
his famous songs, the court held that this was an act of passing off. The court observed that
the right of publicity is the prerogative of an individual and only he has the autonomy to
authorize or not authorize the commercial exploitation of his likeness or some attributes of
his personality. 
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARACTER
MERCHANDISING
IMAGE MERCHANDISING

which the actual person and the character he plays are not differentiated.
People associate the person as the character itself, instead of their actual
personality, for example, Robert Downey Jr. is more famous as Tony Stark and
Iron Man than as his himself i.e., his actual personality, therefore people would
want to buy Iron Man merchandise with his face or with his voice (in a toy).

In Arbaaz Khan v. Northstar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., Bombay High Court

granted copyright to the character named Chulbul Pandey from the movie
Dabangg having the opinion that the character in question is unique and has
his style and makes it one of a kind and unique and distinctively recognizable
from the entire film.
 ADVANTAGES OF CHARACTER MERCHANDISING

Strong Brand Recognition: Using a popular character helps

to create an instant connection with customers and builds
brand recognition. When customers see a product with a
well-known character on it, they're more likely to make an
immediate purchase

Increased Sales: Character merchandising often leads to

increased sales because it taps into customers' emotional
attachment to their favorite characters. Fans are willing to
buy products associated with their favorite characters, even
if they don't necessarily need them.

Licensing Opportunities: Character merchandising can also

lead to licensing opportunities, where other companies pay to
use the character on their products. This can create an
additional revenue stream for the brand owner.

Brand Extension: Character merchandising allows brand

owners to extend their brand beyond their core products or
services. This can help to create a stronger brand identity and
increase the overall value of the brand
 OWNERSHIP OF RIGHTS

The rights attached to a character is usually vested with the creator of such
character 

Unless the creator of the character has licensed or transferred his right forward
to another individual, in which case that individual becomes the owner. In case
the character is created in due course of employment then the owner of such
work would be the employer.

In case there is image merchandising, i.e., merchandising based on the image of

a certain actor famous for playing a certain character on screen, the rights
become attached to such real person (the actor) and is owned by such person.
 LEGAL ISSUES AND PROTECTION

There is no specific legislation for the protection and

regulating character merchandising in any country. In
India, laws on copyrights, trademarks, and industrial
designs, together with the protection against unfair
competition (including passing-off), may be relevant in
the context of the merchandising of fictional characters
and image merchandising.
 1. Copyrights Act, 1957

• Copyright subsists not in ideas but expressed forms of the idea. Copyright is a bundle of
rights given by law to creators of original literary, dramatic, artistic, musical work and
producers of cinematographic films and sound recordings

When it comes to character merchandising, the relevant

copyright subsists in literary work, artistic works, and
cinematograph films. Copyright law gives protection to
creators and owners of characters.

Thus authors of comic strips, books, novels from which character originates and the
producers of cinematographic films have the right to do or authorize others to
commercially exploit the characters and prevent others from doing the same
• The term of copyright protection in the case of
fictional characters from literary and artistic work is the
author’s lifetime plus 60 years and that of the
cinematographic film is 60 years from publication.
• In Diamond Comic Pvt. Ltd. and Anr. vs. Raja Pocket Books and
Ors (2005)

• Plaintiff’s company is the leading publishing and printing

company of comic books. The defendant agreed with the
plaintiff, assigning the rights in publishing the character
‘Shaktiman’ in form of a comic book. When the defendant comic
book started gaining a reputation in the market, they started
manufacturing and selling their comic book.

The plaintiff received the notice from the defendant to

terminate the assignment deed. As per Section 19(a) of
the Copyright Act, 1957, the assignor of the copyright
cannot unilaterally revoke or withdraw the assignment
and also cannot reassign the same to any other person.

The court, therefore, passed a mandatory injunction against the

defendant and restrained the defendants from publishing,
printing, or circulating the ‘Shaktiman’ character in the form of
comic books.
 2. Trademarks Act, 1999
• According to section 29 of the Indian Trademark Act 1999, a registered trademark owner can stop others
from using a deceptively similar or an identical mark on goods and services without the permission of the owner
of the trademark. The authors or the owners safeguard their rights and the goodwill attached to the character by
registering their character as a trademark under the Trademark Act, 1999

• They can further license their use of a trademark to a third party and gain commercially. Celebrities can
also register their names and appearance as a trademark and prevent others from using it. Actors like, Shahrukh
Khan, Amitabh Bachhan has got the trademark of their name registered. Similarly, Akshay Kumar has got
“Khiladi” registered on account of his several movies with the same name.

• The criminal remedies, as well as civil remedies, are granted by the court in suits for infringement. In case
of an unregistered mark, the passing-off remedy can be availed on the establishment of goodwill in the trademark,
misappropriation of the defendant, and loss of trade or damage to goodwill faced by the plaintiff as a result.
 3. Right to Privacy

• In India, there is no statutory law that recognizes the rights

of a famous personality or celebrity. But the courts have often
recognized and protected Personality and Publicity rights under
Article 21 Right to Privacy. Thus unauthorized personality
merchandising can be prevented through a suit for infringement of
the right to privacy.

• In 2012, Titan Industries Ltd. v. M/s Ramkumar Jewellers, where

photoshoot images of Amitabh Bacchan and Jaya Bacchan for promotion of
Jewelry of Titan Industries were used by the defendant without their
permission. Delhi High Court recognized misappropriation of the couple’s
personality rights and clarified that a claim for infringement of the right of
publicity requires “no proof of falsity, confusion, or deception, especially
when the celebrity is identifiable”.
 4. Designs Act, 2000

• The creators and owners of the fictional characters can

also get a design registration for specific products. A design
is registrable if it fulfills the following criteria -a) New or
Original Design (Novelty or Originality), b) No prior
publication of design, c) Significantly distinguishable from
known designs or combination of known designs
(Distinctiveness), d) Does not comprise or contains
scandalous or obscene matter, e) Use would not be contrary
to public order or morality, f) Does not hamper Security of
India
 WHO IS A CELEBRITY
01
The word celebrity comes from a Latin
word ‘celebritatem’ which means ‘the
condition of beingfamous’.2. Under the
‘direct commercial exploitation of
identity’ test, when an unauthorized use
of a person’s identity is made that is both
direct in nature and commercial in
motivation, the person whose identity
has been misappropriated has by
definition become a celebrity for right of
publicity purposes.
02
The rights enjoyed by celebrities are a
bundle of rights including publicity
rights, reproduction rights, distribution
rights, rental and lending rights, making
available rights, personality rights,
privacy rights and so on. But broadly,
these rights can be classified under three
major categories, namely, personality
rights, publicity rights, and privacy
rights.
03
Today, actors, authors, artists, politicians,
models, athletes, musicians, singers,
television personalities, well-known
business executives, and anyone who seeks
to capture the public attention including
reality TV stars are all celebrities. Public
perception is the main criteria for
determining whether an individual is a
celebrity or not.
 STATUTORY RECOGNITION OF CELEBRITY RIGHTS

The Indian Copyright Act does not define the word ‘celebrity’. But
reference can be made to the definition of a performer as given under
Section 2(qq). A performer is not a celebrity always and a celebrity
may not be a performer at all. The word performer includes ‘an
actor, singer, musician,

Section 2(1) of the Indian Trade Marks Act, 2000, allows

registration of any ‘sign capable of distinguishing goods and
services of one person from another, any word (including personal
names), design, numeral and shape of goods or their packaging’ as
trademark. Courts in India have accorded protection to film titles,
characters and names under trademark laws..
Rome Convention- It is the first international instrument to deal with
rights of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting
organizations. Performers have not been given rights in respect of
secondary use as in case of films under Article 19. The right to
secondary use is limited to equitable remuneration. This convention
does not protect moral rights.
TRIPS -article 14(1) of TRIPS requires performers to be granted ‘the possibility
of preventing’ the following acts, namely, fixation of their performance on a
phonogram, reproduction of such fixation and broadcasting of their live
performances. Under Article 14(5), the term can be extended from 20 years to 50
years
 NEED TO PROTECT CELEBRITY RIGHTS

Primarily, celebrity rights are assignable and licensable for commercial

benefits. In the current context, publicity involves immense amount of Secondly, the right to publicity is inheritable. Therefore
money and the public image of a celebrity is of tremendous value. This
descendants of a celebrity can gain from the popularity created
creates an economic incentive for the public and celebrities themselves
are adequately rewarded due to their moral claim over money arising by the celebrity during his/her lifetime .
out of their fame.

Thirdly, to protect performers by: (i) alleviating a sense of insecurity in

performers due to the fear of ‘technological unemployment’ including,
replacement of
musicians by recorded music; (ii) preventing bootlegging; and (iii)
controlling exploitation of performers who cannot manage the situation
on their own.
 WHAT MAY BE PROTECTED

PERFORMANCES-
It is highly controversial whether performances of film actors are protected under IP laws
in India since performances are not protected under copyright laws. Section 13(4) provide DIGITAL IMAGES -
that separate creative components within a film are copyrightable. In Fortune films v Dev
The other controversial area in IP protection is whether the author has copyright
Anand, it was said that acting in films does not fall under any category of work. A
performer’s right is expressly excluded under Section 38(4) by stating that ‘once a
protection over digitally made graphic or cartoons. If the digital image is of a well
performer has consented to the incorporation of his performance in a cinematograph film, known personality, is there a conflict between author’s right in his creation and
the provisions of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) shall have no further application to such actor’s right in his image? This question remains to be answered.
performance.’ Moral rights are conferred only on authors and the definition of author does
not cover a film actor.

Digital Merchandising -
In this case, a computer generated image, if it
qualifies as a mark, can get protection under
trademark law merely as a mark.
 POSITION UNDER INDIAN
JURISDICTION
01
In India, there are neither adequate
case laws, nor statute governing
celebrity rights per se. Thus, the
legal system in India, at present, is
quite deficient in dealing with the
modern phenomena of endorsement
advertising. But the market has its
own forces and does not wait for the
law to accomplish.
02
The Hon'ble Delhi High Court, in ICC
Development (International) Ltd v Arvee
Enterprises36, gave a statement on
publicity rights, which is the only
authoritative discussion of publicity
rights in Indian legal jurisprudence. The
image rights in India, as considered by
the Delhi High Court, arise from the right
of privacy which has emerged through
case law development and flows from
human dignity enshrined in Articles 19
and 21 of the Constitution. This approach
has to be contrasted to the approach of
treating publicity rights as commercial
property.
03
the Trademark Act, 1999, clearly
prohibits the use of personal names under
Section 14 where an application is made
for the registration of a trademark, which
falsely suggests a connection with a
living person, or a person whose death
took place within 20 years prior to the
date of application for registration of the
trademark. Thus, within a basic
framework, celebrities can protect their
name and image in India and this right
can be claimed by their legal heirs, when
the reputation and image of the deceased
is at stake.
PERSONALITY RIGHTS

PERSONALITY RIGHTS ARE RIGHTS

ASSOCIATED WITH AN INDIVIDUAL’S
PERSONALITY THAT MAY BE PROTECTED AS
AN INDIVIDUAL’S RIGHT TO PRIVACY OR
AS THEIR PROPERTY. ACCORDING TO
MERRIAM- WEBSTER, “PERSONALITY RIGHTS
ARE RIGHTS (AS OF PERSONAL SECURITY,
PERSONAL LIBERTY, AND PRIVATE PROPERTY)
APPERTAINING TO THE PERSON”.
Personality Rights consist of two types of rights: Right to Publicity & Right to Privacy
 Right to Publicity
• PUBLICITY RIGHTS HAVE GAINED SIGNIFICANT
ATTENTION IN THE REALM OF IPR IN THE
RECENT YEARS.
• THESE RIGHTS, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS
CELEBRITY RIGHTS, ARE THOSE LINKED WITH AN
INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONALITY. THEY ARE DEFINED
AS THE RIGHT OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO CONTROL
THE COMMERCIAL USE OF HIS OR HER IDENTITY.

• A CELEBRITY’S PUBLIC IMAGE IS EXTREMELY

VALUABLE AND HAS MONETARY VALUE
ATTRIBUTED TO IT. AS A RESULT, IT IS CRITICAL
FOR SUCH A PERSON TO DEFEND HIS OR HER
RIGHTS SO THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN ABUSE IT OR
PROFIT FROM IT.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
Personality rights as such are not explicitly included in
the Constitution, but privacy was recognized as a
fundamental right under Article 21 if the Constitution, in the
case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, AIR
2017 SC 4161

In context of personality rights it refers to the right to privacy

or the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly
without permission.

Every individual has the right to safeguard his or her own life
and image as it is portrayed to the rest of the world. Unless
with his/her consent, the power to manage the commercial
use of his/her own identity should be not lie with any third
party.
 1. PROTECTION UNDER RIGHT TO PRIVACY

STATUTORY • Right to privacy is now a fundamental

right read under Article 21 of the

INROADS OF Constitution of India.

• Supreme Court in R RajaGopal v State of

PERSONALIT Tamil Nadu (JT 1994 (6) SC 514). In that
case, the court observed that: “The first

Y RIGHTS aspect of this right must be said to have

been violated where, for example, a
person’s name or likeness is used, without
his consent, for advertising or non-
advertising purposes or for any other
matter.”
2. PROTECTION UNDER TRADEMARK LAW
The limited protection to a celebrity’s image is
provided under the provisions of trademark laws.
Under the Trademarks Act, 1999 there is no
specific provision to grant protection to image
and publicity rights. Though, the Act under
Section 2(m) providing the definition of
‘mark’ does include names. Some well-known
personalities from India like Baba Ramdev,
Sanjeev Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh
Khan and Yuvraj Singh etc. have applied for the
registration of their name as a trademark to have
protection under the Act against its misuse.
3. PROTECTION UNDER COPYRIGHT LAW
The Copyright Act, 1957 does not define the
word ‘celebrity’. However, the definition of a
‘performer’ under section 2(qq) includes an
actor, singer, musician, dancer, acrobat, juggler,
snake charmer, lecturer or any other person who
delivers a performance. There is a lack of legal
definition of celebrity as even if the reference is
made to the definition of a performer as
provided in section 2(qq) of the Indian
Copyright Act, a performer is not a celebrity
always and a celebrity may not be a performer
at all. For example, a teacher teaching in class
or a snake charmer performing his art are
performers but not celebrities.
No person can enrich themselves from
others’ hard work. The right of
publicity vests on the person alone
and that person alone has the right to
gain profit from it. This was held in 
ICC Development (International) Ltd v
Arvee Enterprises (2003). Copyright
would come to rescue where there is a
clash between interest and morals,
this was held in a landmark case of 
Amarnath Sehgal vs Union of India an
d Others (2005)
.
 4. TORTS AND PASSING-OFF
 The enrichment of the plaintiff’s personality for
monetary purpose

 The personality violation so enriched is caught

purposes and is identifiable by the public at large.

 The advertisement or use by the plaintiff is hinted

at
In the K.Ganeshan case (2016), the court allowed the tort of publicity as the deceased journalist
could not be easily identified by name by the public. The jurisprudence in India concerning the right of
publicity deals with privacy at the base but is made in very certain cases only. In reality, it becomes difficult
when the celebrity uses the same right for negative publicity and wants to sue for the same. Tortious liability
is given as it provides much higher damages, thereby tending to be misused. The above case is the
landmark precedent which allows the family/estate of a deceased person to exercise their right to sue
for the right to publicity on behalf of the deceased where there is publicity related to them.
 PROBLEMS & INTERPRETATION THROUGH
JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS

PROBLEMS:---
• HUMAN INDIVIDUAL POSSESS
PERSONALITY RIGHTS AND FICTIONAL
CHARACTER POSSESS PROPERTY RIGHTS.
• TWO PERSONALITY RIGHTS: RIGHT TO
PRIVACY & RIGHT TO PUBLICITY.
• LACK OF SPECIAL LEGISLATION IN INDIA
WITH REGARDS TO THE MATTER OF
CHARACTER MERCHANDISING.
• LACK OF RECOGNITION OF RIGHT TO PUBLICITY
AND MISAPPROPRIATION IN THE LAW OF
TRADEMARK: THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC
LEGISLATION OR LAW MADE THEREOF IN RESPECT
TO RIGHT TO PUBLICITY WHICH LEADS TO
MISAPPROPRIATION.
• USE OF CELEBRITY’S PERSONALITY OR IMAGE AS
A INSTRUMENT: CELEBRITIES ARE THOSE FAMOUS
PERSONS WHO ACQUIRES SPECIAL PERSONALITY
RIGHTS DUE TO THEIR POPULARITY AMONG THE
PUBLIC. DUE TO THIS THE COMMERCIAL
INDUSTRIES USES THE PERSONALITY OR IMAGE
OF THOSE PERSONS AS AN INSTRUMENT.
• EXISTENCE OF ONLY TWO RIGID REMEDIES I.E.,
CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDY AND COMMON
PRINCIPLE OF PASSING OFF.
 CHARACTER MERCHANDISING
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
• THE MAIN PROBLEM REGARDS THE CHARACTER
MERCHANDISING IS THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE
RIGHTS OVER THE INSTRUMENT USED.
• THE TEST FOR IDENTIFICATION OF THE SITUATIONS
WHERE THERE IS AN INFRINGEMENT OF THE
PERSONALITY RIGHTS WAS LAID DOWN IN THE
CASE OF TITAN INDUSTRIES V. RAJKUMAR JEWELERS
WHERE THE CELEBRITIES AMITABH BACHAN AND
HIS WIFE JAYA BACHAN CONSIGNED THEIR
PERSONALITY RIGHTS TO THE PETITIONER IN THE
CASE TO USE IN COMMERCIALS OF THEIR BRAND
TANISHQ.
• THE COURT HELD THAT “ PERSONALITY RIGHTS
INCLUDES THE RIGHT AGAINST INTRUSION UPON
PRIVATE SPACE OR SOLITUDE, PUBLICLY
DISCLOSURE OF SENSITIVE FACTS,
MISREPRESENTATION OF IMAGE OR, USE OF NAME
AS UNJUSTLY ENRICH.”
PERSONALITY MERCHANDISING/ REPUTATION MERCHANDISING

• IN PERSONALITY MERCHANDISING THE ESSENTIAL

ATTRIBUTES LIKE NAMES, IMAGES, VOICE OF A
REAL PERSON ARE USED.
• IN THE CASE OF D.M. ENTERTAINMENT V. BABY GIFT
HOUSE & ORS., WHERE THE DEFENDANTS WERE
SELLING TOYS HAVING SAME PHYSICAL
ATTRIBUTES LIKE THAT OF FAMOUS PUNJABI
SINGER DALER MEHNDI AND HAS THE FUNCTION OF
SINGING A STANZA OF THE SINGER’S SONG AND DO
ACTIONS LIKE THE SINGER.
CONTD.

• THE SINGER ALSO HAD ASSIGNED HIS RIGHTS TO HIS

COMPANY ‘D.M. ENTERTAINMENT’.
• THE COURT IN THE CASE HELD THAT “ THE RIGHT OF
PUBLICITY IS THE PREROGATIVE OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND
ONLY HE HAS THE AUTONOMY TO AUTHORIZE OR NOT
TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION
OFFICE LIKELINESS OR SOME ATTRIBUTES OF HIS
PERSONALITY“
• THE COURT IN THE CASE GRANTED THE PETITIONER THE
REMEDY OF PASSING OF AND A PERMANENT INJUNCTION
OVER THE PRODUCT ALONG WITH AMOUNT OF
COMPENSATION.
 POSTHUMOUS PERSONALITY RIGHTS

• THE PERSONALITY RIGHTS WHICH A PERSON

POSSES WITH HIS PERSONALITY AND IMAGE
CEASES TO BE A RIGHT AFTER THE DEATH OF
THE PERSON WHO POSSESSES IT.
• THE COURT IN THE CASE OF DEEPA JAYAKUMAR
V. A.L. VIJAY HELD THAT PERSONALITY WRITES
CANNOT BE INHERITED TO ANY PERSON Click icon to add picture
WHETHER SUCH PERSON ARE LEGAL HEIRS OR
NOT. PERSONALITY RIGHTS SEIZES TO EXIST
AFTER THE DEATH OF THE PERSONALITY AND
THUS LEGAL LAYERS ARE NOT THE OWNER OF
THOSE PERSONALITY TRAITS OF THE DEAD AS
SUCH TRAITS ARE INTRINSIC AND ARE PERSONAL
TO THE PERSONALITY.
 CONCLUSION
• THE INCREASE IN THE COMMERCIALISM AND CONSEQUENT INCREASE
IN NUMBER OF HIGH-VALUE ENDORSEMENT DEALS BEING SIGNED
BY FAMOUS PERSONALITIES SIGNIFIES THAT TREMENDOUS VALUE
IS ATTACHED TO SUCH ENDORSEMENTS.
• ON THE OTHER HAND, AS RIGHTLY POINTED BY THE DELHI HIGH
COURT IN THE CASE OF D.M. ENTERTAINMENT PVT. LTD. VS. BABY GIFT
HOUSE AND ORS. , IN A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY, WHERE
EVERY INDIVIDUAL'S RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH IS ASSURED, THE OVER
EMPHASIS ON A FAMOUS PERSON'S PUBLICITY RIGHTS CAN TEND TO
CHILL THE EXERCISE OF SUCH INVALUABLE DEMOCRATIC RIGHT.
WHILE COURTS NEED TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN PROTECTION
OF HIGH VALUED RIGHTS OF PERSONALITIES AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHT
OF INDIVIDUALS IN SOCIETY, IT IS ALSO EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE TO
PROTECT THE INTEREST OF THE CONSUMERS AS WELL FROM ANY
KIND OF MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS AND ENDORSEMENTS.
AFTER ALL, CONSUMER IS THE KING!
• EVEN THOUGH INDIA HAS COME A LONG WAY IN
RECOGNISING PERSONALITY RIGHTS, THERE ARE STILL
QUESTIONS THAT ARISE AS TO WHAT IS THE DEGREE OF
CONSENT REQUIRED TO MAKE A FILM INSPIRED BY THE LIFE
OF A REAL-LIFE PERSON; HOW TO BALANCE THE
CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM OF THE PRODUCER TO
ARTISTICALLY EXPRESS[15] IN THE WAY HE WANTS TO IN HIS
FILMS AND BE IN THE PROFESSION OF FILMMAKING[16]
(CINEMATIC LIBERTIES) AND THE PERSONA'S RIGHTS; WHAT
ARE THE LIMITS IMPOSED UPON FILMMAKER TO NOT
COMMERCIALLY HINDER PERSONALITY RIGHTS[17]; AND
WHETHER POSTHUMOUS PERSONALITY RIGHTS CAN BE
GRANTED LEGAL RECOGNITION IN INDIA IN THE NEAR
FUTURE AND IF ENFORCED, WHAT IS THE NATURE AND
EXPLOITATION SCOPE OF SUCH RIGHTS THAT CAN BE
GRANTED TO THE PERSONA'S LEGAL HEIRS
• NONE OF THE IPR SYSTEMS ARE SUFFICIENT TO FULLY
SAFEGUARD PERSONALITY RIGHTS. THE LAWS GOVERNING
TRADEMARKS, PASSING OFF, AND COPYRIGHT EACH HAVE
SPECIFIC GAPS WHICH IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE
CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY RIGHTS. HENCE, PERSONALITY
RIGHTS ARE SUI GENERIS AND CANNOT BE PROPERLY
POSITIONED UNDER ANY OF THE IPR LAWS.
• WITH THE WIDESPREAD INCREASE IN POPULARITY OF
CELEBRITIES OR PUBLIC FIGURES AND ADVENT OF PRIVACY
AWARENESS AMONG ONE AND ALL, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT
THE LAWS KEEP UP WITH THE CHANGING TIMES. THE RECENT
CASE OF WELL-KNOWN ACTOR AMITABH BACHCHAN IS ONE
OF ITS KIND, THEREBY IGNITING THE NEED FOR
PERSONALITY RIGHTS IN INDIA.MOVING FORWARD, ONLY
TIME WILL TELL HOW WELL-KNOWN PUBLIC FIGURES OPT
TO SAFEGUARD THEIR PERSONALITY AND
CHARACTERISTICS IN THE CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM, WHEREIN
THE CONCEPT OF PRIVACY IS EXTREMELY FRAGILE AND CAN
BE EASILY PENETRATED UPON.
 2023

Thanks!

CREATORS

 PARTEEK CHAUHAN
 RIDRANSH PANDEY
 ARPIT PANTHI
 KSHTIJ KUJUR
 SOMESH SAHU 35

 RITIN KUJUR