Indian celebrities are fighting a major legal battle to stop Artificial Intelligence from stealing their voices and faces. Recently, legendary singer Asha Bhosle and actors like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan approached the courts to stop AI companies from cloning their voices and creating deepfakes.
The central issue is how AI models are trained. Tech companies argue that if data is “publicly available” on the internet, they can use it under “fair dealing” laws. However, Indian courts are disagreeing. In the Asha Bhosle case, the Bombay High Court ruled that a celebrity’s voice is part of their “personality rights.” Even if a singer’s voice is online, AI cannot copy it for commercial use without permission.
Legal experts warn that current laws have gaps. While the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act allows the use of publicly available data, lawyers argue this exemption shouldn’t apply to stealing someone’s identity or style. To fix this, India may soon need specific new laws that force AI companies to pay for the data they use, ensuring that innovation isn’t built on “stolen goods.”
source: legal.economictimes
