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Bhosle filed a lawsuit against a number of defendants, including Mayk Inc., an artificial intelligence firm that was accused of selling voice clones.
Famous playback singer Asha Bhosle has been granted ad-interim protection of her personality and moral rights by the Bombay High Court, which prohibits online marketplaces, sellers, and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms from illegally cloning her voice or profitably using her image, likeness, and other characteristics [Asha Bhosle vs. Mayak Inc].
According to Justice Arif S. Doctor, it is prima facie a violation of a celebrity's publicity and personality rights when their name, voice, photos, caricatures, or likeness are used without permission.
"It would be against the celebrity's personality rights to make AI capabilities available that would allow any voice to be transformed into that of a famous without that person's consent. A celebrity's voice is an essential part of their public persona and personal identity, and such instruments make it easier for them to be improperly appropriated and manipulated," the Court continued.
Bhosle had filed a lawsuit against a number of defendants, including Google LLC, the company that runs YouTube, where AI-generated videos mimicking her voice were uploaded, Mayk Inc., an AI company that allegedly offered cloned versions of her voice, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd, for displaying and selling posters and merchandise using her likeness without her consent, and an independent artist selling clothing with her image.
According to her petition, such misuse damages the goodwill and reputation she has earned over the course of an 82-year career in which she has recorded songs in a variety of genres and received numerous national and international honors, including the Padma Vibhushan, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and two Grammy nominations.
The Court granted her ad-interim relief, noting that Bhosle had the upper hand in terms of convenience.
The strongest orders against AI platforms and dealers (defendants 1, 2, and 5 in Bhosle's plaint) were issued by Justice Doctor.
For any commercial or private benefit, the Court has prohibited them from using, taking advantage of, or misappropriating Bhosle's name, voice, vocal style, technique, singing style, portrait, image, likeness, signature, persona, or any other aspect of her personality. This includes, but is not limited to, using face morphing, machine learning, generative artificial intelligence, or AI speech models without getting her written consent.
Additionally, the Court directed these defendants to delete any infringements mentioned in Bhosle's plaint, including digital content, goods, and cloned voice recordings, and to deliver up copies of such property, digital or physical, for destruction.
Additionally, the Court ordered Amazon and Flipkart (defendants 3 and 4) to take down any infringement-related listings found in the plaint within a week and to make sure that comparable unapproved listings that use Bhosle's image or likeness are removed as soon as they are brought to their attention.
When Google and YouTube (defendant 6) were notified of the infringement, they were instructed to remove the precise URLs that were annexed to the plaint and to remove similar AI-generated content from YouTube.
Additionally, all platforms were instructed to give Bhosle the names, contact information, IP logs, and payment details of any infringing parties that subscribed or sold to them so that she could seek additional legal remedies.
The Court based its decision on case law, including the Delhi High Court's decision in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan v. Aishwaryaworld.com (2025) and the Bombay High Court's decision in Arijit Singh v. Codible Ventures LLP (2024), which both acknowledged that unapproved AI-driven exploitation of celebrity attributes violates personality rights.
Justice Doctor added that Bhosle's argument was only reinforced by the defendants' failure to appear in court despite notice being served. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for October 13, 2025.
Advocate Ankit Lohia represented Asha Bhosle, while Manilal Kher Ambalal & Co. provided instructions to Advocates Vikram Trivedi, Rashid Boatwalla, Lipsa Unadkat, and Garima Jain.
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