Delhi High Court Orders Take Down Of YouTube Channel Impersonating Aaj Tak Anchor Anjana Om Kashyap With Deepfake Videos
The Delhi High Court has directed the takedown of a YouTube Channel impersonating famous Aaj Tak Anchor Anjana Om Kashyap with deepfake technology.
The Court was considering an Application seeking inter alia grant of an ad interim injunction against the Defendants in a Suit filed by TV Today Network Ltd., restraining them from using news clipping, videos, deepfake impersonations, etc. of Ms. Anjana Om Kashyap.
The Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh observed, “….If fake Youtube pages using the name and image of the Plaintiff no.2 are allowed to come up and be disseminated, the same would violate her personality rights. Even if the content is original content, the same cannot be permitted to be disseminated by anyone other than the Plaintiffs who own the Broadcast Reproduction Rights in all their broadcasts. If the content is not genuine and is fake or fabricated, the Plaintiff no.1 company could also be made responsible for such fake news videos put up without its knowledge…..”
The Applicant was represented by Advocate Hrishikesh Barua while the Respondent was represented by Advocate Mamta R Jha.
Facts of the Case
It was stated that Anjana Om Kashyap is one of the celebrated names in the media sector, and she has been working as a Managing Editor (Special Projects) in the Plaintiff company since 2012. According to the plaint, she has a YouTube channel named ‘@AnjanaomKashyap-AOK’. It was the case of the Plaintiff that unknown persons arraigned in the suit as Defendant No. 2 started a YouTube channel under the name of ‘@AnajanaomKashya’. The said platform uses the photograph of Anjana as also various fake videos, including purported news clippings etc., in a manner so as to depict that the same are hers.
Counsel for the Plaintiff submitted that this is a fake page which is promoting itself on the reputation and goodwill of both the Plaintiffs by using a similar name and by creating fake videos involving Anjana, her personality rights are also affected and violated.
Reasoning By Court
The Court noted that a perusal of the YouTube pages would show that there is clearly a difference between the YouTube page of the Plaintiff and that of the Defendant No.2 with the latter missing “P” in the spelling of “Kashyap” and thus appearing to be a fake YouTube page.
“Such fake YouTube pages or fake profiles being made using the Plaintiffs’ goodwill, reputation and personality would be contrary to law. The proliferation of fake youtube pages of a well known organisation or a Personality could result in enormous damage and dissemination of misinformation as the same would lack editorial control. Moreover, in the area of news broadcasting, responsibility has to be taken by the broadcaster and the anchor to ensure that incorrect or misleading news is not disseminated,” the Court observed.
It ruled that the operation of the fake YouTube Channel clearly violates the personality rights of Anjana and even if the content is original, the same cannot be used by anyone other the Plaintiff.
“It is also common knowledge that youtube pages are created for earning revenues and monetising the same. The use of the entire name of Plaintiff no.2, with just the deletion of the letter `p’, as also the image, voice etc., for commercial benefit is illegal and contrary to law,” the Court added.
It thus concluded that the Plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for ad interim injunction.
“In case any further YouTube pages or channels are identified by the Plaintiffs, consisting a fake profile of Plaintiff No.2, the URL shall be supplied by Defendant No.1 who shall take them down within 72 hours,” the Court directed.
The Application was accordingly allowed.
Cause Title: T.V. Today Network Limited vs. Google LLC. & Ors.
Appearances:
Plaintiff– Advocate Hrishikesh Barua, Advocate Utkarsh Dwivedi, Advocate Mr. Alman Cleancy
Defendants– Advocate Mamta R Jha, Advocate Rohan Ahuja, Advocate Shrutima Ehersa, Advocate Rahul Choudhary, Advocate Himani Sachdeva, Advocate Devanshi Raj
