PERSONAL RIGHTS

1. Context

2. Personality Rights

• Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
• These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales.
• Therefore, it is necessary for renowned personalities/celebrities to register their names to sell their personality rights.
• A large list of unique personal attributes contributes to the making of a celebrity.
• All of these attributes need to be protected, such as name, nickname, stage name, picture, likeness, image, and any identifiable personal property, such as a distinctive race car.

3. Personality rights and Public rights:

• First, the right of publicity, or the right to keep one's image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark; and 
• secondly, the right to privacy or the right to not have one's personality represented publicly without permission.
• However, under common law jurisdiction, publicity rights fall into the realm of the 'tort of passing off.
• Passing off takes place when someone intentionally or unintentionally passes off their goods and services as those belonging to another party.
• Often, this type of misrepresentation damages the goodwill of a person or business, resulting in financial or reputational damage.
• Publicity rights are governed by statutes like the Trade marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957.

4. Use of a name on the Internet effect Personality Rights?

• The Delhi High Court in 2011 observed in the case of Arun Jaitely vs Network Solutions Private Limited and Ors., in which Mr.Jaitely filed a suit seeking a permanent injunction against the defendants from misuse and immediate transfer of the domain name.
• The court stated that "the popularity or fame of individual will be no different on the internet than in reality".
• The court decided in the favour of Mr. Arun Jaitley, stating that the "name also falls in the category wherein it besides being a personal name has attained distinctive indicia of its own.

5. Consumer Rights

6. False endorsement by Celebrities

• While celebrities are protected from commercial misuse of their name and personality, there have also been instances where consumers are misled owing to false advertisements or endorsements by such personalities.
• While on one side Indian courts have considered recognition of Personality Rights, the Government has realized the imminent need to also protect the consumers at large from the false and misleading advertisement of products endorsed by such personalities.
• As a result of the same, to find a balance to the scale, the Amendment to the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 was passed to keep a check on misleading advertisements and endorsements of consumer products by imposing penalties on the endorser as well.
• It will be interesting to see the fallout of this legislation in light of the increasing endorsement deals involving famous personalities and celebrities.

For Prelims