CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday granted an interim John Doe order in favour of actor and Rajya Sabha MP Kamal Haasan, restraining unknown persons and entities from commercially exploiting his name, image and other identifiable attributes without his consent.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order after being shown material indicating that morphed images and unauthorised merchandise bearing Haasan’s likeness were being circulated online. The court recorded that a strong prima facie case had been made out and directed that respondents be restrained from creating or disseminating false or altered images of the actor through any medium until the next hearing.
It also barred the sale of merchandise carrying his name or image without his consent or endorsement. At the same time, the court clarified that the order would not interfere with permissible forms of creative expression, including satire, caricature and similar works. Since a John Doe defendant had been arraigned in the suit, the court directed Haasan to issue a public notice of the order in both English and Tamil newspapers.
Appearing for Haasan, senior advocate Satish Parasaran, on behalf of advocate Vijayan Subramanian, submitted that several unidentified entities were using the actor’s image and likeness on commercial merchandise and in digitally altered content without authorisation. He said these activities amounted to unlawful commercial exploitation of Haasan’s personality rights.
During the hearing, the court orally observed that freedom of expression, including satire and caricature, must be protected, to which counsel responded that commercial use stood on a different footing. In his pleadings, Haasan stated that his name, voice, signature, image and other distinctive features formed part of his personality and publicity rights and were protected under articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, sections 38, 38A and 38B of the Copyright Act, 1957, and common law principles.