Television actress Rupali Ganguly has approached the Bombay High Court seeking legal protection against the unauthorised use of her photographs, videos and other personal attributes across online and offline platforms, including AI-generated deepfake images and morphed videos on adult websites.
According to Live Law, the actress has also approached the court to seek protection of her personality rights and prevent further misuse of her identity. Through her lawyer, Sana Raees Khan, Ganguly urged the High Court to direct the removal of objectionable content associated with her from various platforms. The matter is listed for hearing before Justice Madhav Jamdar on Wednesday, November 4.
Eighteen respondents named
Ganguly has impleaded 18 respondents, including online boutiques, celebrity booking and talent-management platforms, Reddit, AI image-generation platform SeaArt AI, Google LLC (which operates Tenor), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications and unidentified persons.
The plea alleges that AI tools and image-editing software have been used to create fabricated and sexually explicit images depicting her in compromising situations, and that her face has been morphed onto videos and superimposed on the bodies of other people. The relief sought expressly covers misuse through artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, deepfakes and face-morphing technology.
A 25-year career at stake
In her plea, Ganguly highlighted that in her past 25 years her work in popular TV shows like Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Sanjeevani, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and Anupamaa has made her a distinguished and recognised personality and a renowned household name. She has also sought a symbolic compensation of Rs 5 lakh, according to coverage of the petition.
Ganguly’s case follows a growing line of Indian actors seeking court protection against AI misuse, including Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who won interim relief in the Bombay High Court in October, and Kriti Sanon, who approached the Delhi High Court this week. For Ganguly, the fight is about dignity as much as law: her name, voice, photograph, face and signature, she argues, are hers alone.
