NEW DELHI: Privacy rights are not heritable, the Delhi high court has said, refusing to restrain online streaming of a film based on the life of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Justice C Hari Shankar, in an order on Tuesday, also rejected the concept of “celebrity rights” contended by the father of the dead actor, saying law can’t promote “celebrity culture” and “to fasten a legal right on something as fleeting as celebrity status, to my mind, appears an oxymoron.”
Dismissing a plea by Krishna Kishore Singh, who claimed the movie “’Nyay: The Justice”, which is streaming on an online platform, included defamatory statements and news articles, and violated the personality rights associated with Sushant Singh Rajput, the HC said no interim relief is required in the matter. The application formed part of a lawsuit by Singh against the filmmakers for making the movie without his consent.
“The rights ventilated in the plaint – i.e., the right to privacy, the right to publicity and the personality rights which vested in SSR, are not heritable. They died with the death of SSR,” the HC observed.
It elaborated on the key argument made by Singh that his son was a celebrity who must be protected. HC highlighted the absence of “any judicial authority” that recognizes celebrity rights.