Sushant Singh Rajput's Publicity Rights: Delving Into The Order's Reasoning

In an order dated July 11, 2023, the Delhi High Court in the case of Krishna Kishore Singh vs. Sarla A Saraogi & Ors. [IA 10551/2021 in CS(COMM) 187/2021] rejected the plea of the father of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) seeking an injunction against the continued streaming of the film, "Nyay: The Justice" which is based on the late actor's life.

Before diving deep into the Delhi High Court order, let us look at the status of publicity rights after an individual's death.

In 1979, in a significant ruling, the California Supreme Court held that the name and likenesses of late actor Bela Lugosi were not heritable, and the right of publicity died with him. Thereafter, the Celebrities Rights Act was passed in the year 1985, which established that publicity rights survive the death of the individual. Similarly, in Washington and Indiana, the position is that publicity rights survive the individual's death. However, the position is different in New York, where