The Bombay High Court has granted legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle ad-interim protection of her personality and moral rights, restraining artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, online marketplaces, and sellers from misusing her name, image, likeness, and voice. Justice Arif S Doctor has observed that the unauthorised use of a celebrity’s personality traits prima facie amounts to a violation of publicity and personality rights.
As per media reports, Bhosle had approached the Court against several defendants, including Mayk Inc, an AI company allegedly offering cloned versions of her voice; Amazon and Flipkart, for displaying and selling merchandise using her likeness without consent; an independent artist selling apparel with her image; and Google LLC, as the operator of YouTube, where AI-generated videos imitating her voice had been uploaded.
Her petition has emphasised that the misuse of her attributes has undermined her reputation and goodwill built over her eight-decade career, during which she has recorded songs across genres and won numerous accolades, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the Padma Vibhushan, and two Grammy nominations.
The Court has granted ad-interim relief, ruling that the balance of convenience lies entirely in Bhosle’s favour. Justice Doctor has issued strong directions against AI platforms and sellers, restraining them from using or misappropriating her voice, vocal style, photographs, image, signature, or persona for commercial or personal gain without her written consent. The Court has further directed the removal of infringing materials, merchandise, cloned recordings, and AI-generated content, with orders for destruction of such material where applicable.
E-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart have been directed to remove infringing listings within a week and to ensure similar unauthorised listings are taken down when notified. Google/YouTube has been ordered to remove specific URLs and ensure that AI-generated content imitating Bhosle’s voice is taken down when reported.
Additionally, all platforms have been directed to provide Bhosle with basic subscriber or seller information of infringing parties, including names, contact details, IP logs, and payment details, to help her pursue further remedies. The Court has relied on precedents such as Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP (2024) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.com (2025) to support its ruling.
The matter has been scheduled for the next hearing on October 13, 2025.
