IP Case Law › Other › Karan Johar v. Ashok Kumar/John Doe & Ors.
Relevant Acts and provisions
Provisions considered: Personality and publicity rights; Order XXXIX, CPC
Brief facts
Film-maker Karan Johar sued several defendants, including unknown persons, over unauthorised use of his name, image and persona online and in merchandise.
Issues before the Court
Whether interim relief should be granted to protect the plaintiff's personality rights.
Court's findings
The Court found that unauthorised exploitation of the plaintiff's persona was likely to harm his reputation and granted interim directions until the next date of hearing (para 44).
Decision
Defendant no. 2 restrained from publishing material infringing the plaintiff's personality rights and directed to take down the listed URL within one week, failing which the search engine (defendant no. 14) was to de-index it; defendant no. 3 directed to suspend and lock the impugned domain name; further directions issued.
Key legal principle / ratio
A celebrity's personality rights may be protected by interim takedown, de-indexing and domain-locking directions against online misuse of his name and persona.
Important paragraph references
Para 44 and sub-paragraphs. Interim order.
Important: This case note is a research summary only. It must be verified against the full judgment by a qualified lawyer, advocate or patent/trade mark attorney before any reliance. Do not rely on it as legal advice; Ragulika IP accepts no responsibility for its accuracy or for any action taken on it.
Keywords
De-indexing Domain Lock John Doe Order Personality Rights Publicity Rights Takedown
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