Celebrity Endorsements, AI, and Persona Rights in India

Introduction

Celebrity endorsements continue to be a strong marketing strategy in India, but the emergence of AI, deep fakes, and social media makes it difficult to discern between real and fake. Recent court cases and evolving regulations show that unauthorized use of a celebrity's name, image, voice, or other persona attributes, that is persona misappropriation, is now an ethical and legal issue. Increasingly brands and endorsers can be held accountable for violations under the Consumer Protection Act, ASCI guidelines, and new AI regulations which demonstrates a need for transparency, consent, and verification in digital promotions.

In the present-day digital market scenario, the celebrity influence still stands as one of the most potent marketing tools. However, the application of AI, deepfakes, and social media has muddled the lines between real and fake endorsement so much that the Indian courts and regulators are hurriedly re-establishing the legal boundaries of celebrity ads. With the advent of judicial developments and increasing media attention on the right of publicity, the unlawful appropriation of a celebrity's name, image, voice, or persona, which is legally termed as persona misappropriation, is not only an ethical issue but also a legal one in India, often resulting in injunctions and monetary penalties.[1]

Expansion of the Scope of Personality Rights

The Indian judiciary has definitively stated that the persona of a star is a category of intellectual property.  In October 2025, the High Court of Delhi expressed the same opinion when it handed down an interim ruling in favor of Abhishek Bachchan against several websites and YouTube channels that used his name, image and likeness without permission. The court commented that such unauthorized representations, mostly those generated by AI, could lead consumers to think that the stars had given their endorsement, thereby causing reputations to suffer and over the time, spoiling the relationships that were based on contracts.[2]

A Hyderabad Civil Court made a similar ruling just a few days later, granting actor Chiranjeevi an injunction protecting his would-be unauthorized use in AI-manipulated videos, memes, and merchandise. The court ruled that such digital misappropriation might cause irreversible damage to one's reputation and at the same time spread misinformation or objectionable content.[3]

Now courts interpret personality rights broadly in a way that not only protects names and images of the celebrities but also their distinctive monikers, film titles, and popular phrases. This change in the court's opinion indicates that the legal system is increasingly recognizing the commercial value of celebrity identities and thus requiring them to have the consent and contract protection that are normally given to such assets.[4]

Consumer Protection and False Advertising

Along with judicial innovations, statutory structures continue to evolve. Section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (CPA), makes brand endorsers liable for up to ₹50 lakh as fines and debarment from future endorsement for any false information conveyed or promoted. The CCPA and ASCI are of the opinion that they should be taking full responsibility for the veracity of the endorsement and that, therefore, celebrities should perform active verification of the claims' accuracy rather than be dependent on the brands' word.[5]

Basically, ignorance cannot be a justification. This principle illustrates the change of the perspective towards the responsibility of endorsers - the trust in promotion is equally allocated between the brand and the celebrity.

Digital Challenges: AI and Deepfake Allegations

Advertising conflicts now have a new dimension due to the advent of generative AI. As a measure against the use of deepfake technology for dishonest purposes, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) proposed changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules on October 22, 2025.[6] One of the stipulations of these rules is that the content produced by AI must be disclosed as such and that the traceability of such materials is provided, thereby guaranteeing the proper identification of synthetic materials as such.

The impurity of synthetic media, the convocation of legal and moral torts by artistic imitations of real people, especially in the use of celebrities, has led India to adopt the first-ever comprehensive regulation on the matter. The law acknowledges the fact that deepfake technology is so advanced that it is barely beyond the realm of reality; hence, the traditional options for protecting Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) or privacy are no longer viable, and the new way to go is through labeling and accountability of the artists and finally, the platforms, that provide this technology.[7]

The Path Forward: Legal Evolution and Brand Responsibility

India's decision to impose strict regulations on AI and deepfakes was not a standalone one; it mirrored a worldwide trend to safeguard people's likenesses as a right—either personal or proprietary. Nevertheless, digital media's non-restricted nature makes enforcement a challenge, particularly in the case of the borderless nature.

Legal and commercial perspectives aside, the brands need to take the following proactive steps:

1. Get the consent in written form for every image, likeness, and voice use that could be AI-simulated or stylized representations. 

2. To ensure transparency, the labeling of all synthetic or AI-generated components in advertisements is mandatory.

3. Let the verification of claims be done before the campaign under CPA and ASCI guidelines to avoid false or misleading representations.

4. Install a system for digital monitoring to catch the unauthorized use of celebrity personas.

A forward-looking perspective

ndia’s modern jurisprudence strengthens the argument for one unified Personality Rights Law, a single regulation that would provide a legal framework covering name, image, likeness, and voice rights and setting' up precise duties for digital platforms and advertisers. Also, the use of AI watermarking technology in the marketing ethics standards could turn compliance into a technical matter and thus, support it.

As a matter of fact, the law should not only be able to keep up with the changes and advancements but also be able to match them as the country moves towards the creation, manipulation, and monetization of digital personae in seconds. The truthfulness of brand identity will rest not only on storytelling but also on individual identity well respecting. The fate of responsible advertising has changed from one of reputation choice to that of a legal obligation built on consumer trust and human dignity.[8]

Conclusion

The latest series of cases—inclusive of Kumar Sanu, Abhishek Bachchan, and Chiranjeevi—indicate that the Indian courts have changed their stance and no longer consider the misuse of personalities as a side issue. The courts now take into account a celebrity’s image, voice, and likeness as the main components of his or her right to publicity, and thus, if violated even by AI, these rights are to be protected by the courts. Likewise, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the ASCI guidelines have made the endorsing actor liable, who has to be transparent and to perform diligence as these activities have become legal obligations instead of being merely optional practices.

The recent draft deepfake and AI-content labelling rules (2025) signal the government’s MeitY to take a forward-looking approach to digital authenticity as a broader policy level. It aims to protect identity while allowing innovation, thereby making it possible for the customers to tell the difference between real and synthetic endorsements.

India signifies while advancing potentially, a ‘two-fold’ policy by implementing the two recent developments. One, providing personality rights with stand alone law will make a clear difference by consolidating all three (privacy, publicity, and intellectual property) principles under one umbrella. Second, standardizing AI water-marking will act as technical defence against the potential misuse of personas and would provide straightforward verification of authenticity.

Legally, ethical fiscal policy is simply: honesty is the fundamental value of trust. The consumer will not only avoided court grievances, but would also establish a relationship more substantial than themselves. The most asset of a bra of a brand in an era of digital reproduction where all are the same as a lead character, is to be real not just in the ad, but in spirit.

Author: Ashna Upadhyay, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

Reference List

1.     Joysri Mondal and Prithwish Ganguli, Deceitful Trade Names in the Era of Social Media: An Exploration of Influencer Marketing and Consumer Deception [2024] SSRN Electronic Journal https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5026399 accessed September 2025.

2.     M Bhat, ‘Mridula Bhat’ (IPRMENTLAW, 5 October 2025) https://iprmentlaw.com/2025/10/06/personality-rights-and-bollywood-when-identity-meets-the-law/ accessed 21 October 2025.

3.     ‘Chiranjeevi Gets Court Protection over Misuse of His Name and Image’ (India Today, 23 October 2025) https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/regional-cinema/story/chiranjeevi-personality-rights-protected-hyderabad-civil-court-interim-order-2807196-2025-10-23 accessed 21 October 2025.

4.     Y Byadwal and others, ‘What’s in a Name? Money, Fame and Publicity Rights’ (SpicyIP, 22 September 2025) https://spicyip.com/2025/09/whats-in-a-name-money-fame-and-publicity-rights.html accessed 21 October 2025.

5.     Susanna Lee and others, ‘Impartial Endorsements: Influencer and Celebrity Declarations of Non-Sponsorship and Honesty’ (2021) 122 Computers in Human Behavior 106858 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106858 accessed February 2025.

6.     Sourav Mandal, Deep Fake Technology and Identity Theft: An Emerging Challenge for Cyber Laws in India https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5161545 accessed September 2025.

7.     Yvonne Nyaboke, ‘Intellectual Property Rights in the Era of Artificial Intelligence’ (2024) 4 Journal of Modern Law and Policy 57 https://doi.org/10.47941/jmlp.2162 accessed October 2025.

8.     Geeta Sharma and Prof Ruhi Lal, Ethical Considerations in the Use of AI-Generated Images in Advertising: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility [2024] SSRN Electronic Journal https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4998132 accessed October 2025.

[1] Joysri Mondal and Prithwish Ganguli, “Deceitful Trade Names in the Era of Social Media: An Exploration of Influencer Marketing and Consumer Deception” [2024] SSRN Electronic Journal <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5026399> accessed September 2025.

[2] Bhat M, ‘Mridula Bhat’ (IPRMENTLAW, 5 October 2025) <https://iprmentlaw.com/2025/10/06/personality-rights-and-bollywood-when-identity-meets-the-law/> accessed 21 October 2025

[3] ‘Chiranjeevi Gets Court Protection over Misuse of His Name and Image’ (India Today, 23 October 2025) <https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/regional-cinema/story/chiranjeevi-personality-rights-protected-hyderabad-civil-court-interim-order-2807196-2025-10-23> accessed 21 October 2025

[4] Byadwal Y and others, ‘What’s in a Name? Money, Fame and Publicity Rights’ (SpicyIP, 22 September 2025) <https://spicyip.com/2025/09/whats-in-a-name-money-fame-and-publicity-rights.html> accessed 21 October 2025

[5] Susanna Lee and others, “Impartial Endorsements: Influencer and Celebrity Declarations of Non-Sponsorship and Honesty” (2021) 122 Computers in Human Behavior 106858 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106858> accessed February 2025.

[6] Sourav Mandal, “Deep Fake Technology and Identity Theft: An Emerging Challenge for Cyber Laws in India” <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5161545> accessed September 2025.

[7] Yvonne Nyaboke, “Intellectual Property Rights in the Era of Artificial Intelligence” (2024) 4 Journal of Modern Law and Policy 57 <https://doi.org/10.47941/jmlp.2162> accessed October 2025.

[8] Geeta Sharma and Prof Ruhi Lal, “Ethical Considerations in the Use of AI-Generated Images in Advertising: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility” [2024] SSRN Electronic Journal <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4998132> accessed October 2025.