Using private image without consent entirely illegal: Bombay High Court

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"Using a private image without consent entirely illegal:" Bombay High Court orders Amazon Prime to take down Telugu movie until the image is removed.

A single-judge Bench of Justice GS Patel found that there was a prima face case in favour of Malik noting that the image has not only been used without consent but has also been used in a derogatory manner.

"The fact that the image has been illicitly used is bad enough. It only makes matters worse when used in a plainly derogatory and demeaning vein", Justice Patel stated in the order.

The Court, therefore, ordered that the film be taken down in all versions, irrespective of language and sub-titles until all the images of the plaintiff are completely deleted from the movie.

"It is not acceptable for them to merely pixelate or blur the images. The entire sequence which has the image of the plaintiff is to be removed immediately," the Court added.

"It would be standard procedure almost anywhere, and this would be true whether the issue is one of copyright in the photograph or of use with permission of an image of the model in question for a particular sequence. It seems to me self-evident that it is not possible to use the image of any person for a commercial purpose without express written consent. If images are to be used without such express consent, they must be covered by some sort of legally enforceable and tenable licensing regime, whether with or without royalty," the Court said.