The Delhi High Court has granted protection to veteran singer Kumar Sanu against the unauthorized use of his name, image, and voice by AI-based platforms, online intermediaries, and digital entities.
The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by Sanu over the misuse of his personality traits through fake and morphed content, and the sale of merchandise featuring his likeness.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora has restrained any individual or platform from using Sanu&rsquo;s name, voice, photograph, likeness, or any other aspect of his persona for commercial purposes until March 30, 2026.
The Court observed that Sanu&rsquo;s personality attributes are protectable elements of his personality rights, emphasizing that he is entitled to safeguard himself against &ldquo;morphed and distorted content which is demeaning.&rdquo; 
The order also cited previous rulings in similar cases involving Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar, and Jackie Shroff.
In its directives, the Court ordered Amazon and Flipkart to remove listings that infringe upon Sanu&rsquo;s rights. 
Two e-commerce sellers were also barred from selling merchandise misusing his persona. 
Additionally, Google and Meta were instructed to take down infringing content identified in the petition and to act on any fresh material flagged in the future.
The Court further ordered the companies to provide Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) of the anonymous accounts involved in sharing such content within three weeks. 
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) were directed to suspend URLs, websites, and mobile applications involved in spreading the infringing material.
The ₹2 crore lawsuit filed by Sanu targets several AI-based and digital platforms for allegedly misusing his name, image, and voice. 
He claimed that the defendants created fake and AI-generated content imitating his persona, sold unauthorized merchandise, and even launched a mobile app using his identity.
Sanu argued that his personality holds distinctiveness and commercial value, and that such misuse damages his privacy, goodwill, and reputation. 
His legal team, led by Advocate Sana Raees Khan, asserted that the use of his name &ldquo;Kumar Sanu,&rdquo; nicknames like &ldquo;Sanu Da,&rdquo; and titles like &ldquo;The Melody King of Bollywood&rdquo; are protected under personality/publicity rights as well as trademark law.
The suit also highlighted the growing misuse of artificial intelligence, alleging that AI-generated sound recordings, videos, GIFs, and caricatures distorted his image and subjected him to &ldquo;unsavoury humour.&rdquo; 
These were widely circulated across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Advocates Sana Raees Khan, Shikha Sachdeva, Kriti Rathi, and Annie Jacob represented Kumar Sanu.&nbsp;
Meta (Facebook) was represented by Varun Pathak, Yash Karunakaran, and Debditya Saha; Flipkart by Shilpa Gupta and Surabhi Pande; Amazon by Vivek Ayyagari and Abhinav Bhalla; Google by Aditya Gupta; and MeitY and DoT by Nidhi Raman and Om Ram.

Court bars misuse of Kumar Sanu’s name, voice, and image by AI and online platforms

Delhi HC Shields Kumar Sanu’s Personality Rights

Court bars misuse of Kumar Sanu’s name, voice, and image by AI and online platforms

October 19, 2025 | 22:11 IST