Published Paper Details:

Personality Rights are intended to protect the person's economic status, personal liberty, and freedom from the unauthorized use of their photos, videos, voice, style, etc., depicting their characteristics and individuality. The individuality is being ruined due to the advent of the social media platforms. Social media has greatly affected the personal rights of celebrities which has become a major issue today. To sell the products/goods, the salesmen use the image or the resemblance of a celebrity without getting consent and gaining out of it as people tend to buy the products by being attracted to the resemblance of the celebrity. This paper looks into the history of personality rights, which allow people to control how their identity, including their name, image, voice, and persona is used commercially. It shows how these rights have developed through common laws and specific legal protections. In India, personality rights are protected by a mix of constitutional rules and particular laws, like the Indian Copyright Act, of 1957 and the Trademarks Act, of 1999. Important cases such as Rajagopal vs State of Tamil Nadu have shaped these protections, highlighting the need for consent and privacy. The paper also explores how personality rights overlap with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), especially in areas like character, personality, and Image Merchandising. These practices involve using a celebrity's identity or a fictional character's image for commercial purposes, which raises complex legal and ethical questions about consent and payment. Social media has made it harder to protect celebrities' personal rights. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help promote celebrities but also often allow the unauthorized use of their personas. This paper looks at key cases like Titan Industries Ltd vs Ramkumar Jewelers, etc., to show the need for strong legal protection against the misuse of celebrity rights.