Rajinikanth has issued a warning to brands against using his name and likeness in any commercial manner.
Actor Rajinikanth has issued a stern warning to brands and companies using his image and likeness for commercial purposes, saying he would be forced to take legal action against them. The actor is one of the most popular superstars in Indian cinema history. His place as a pop culture icon has led to many brands using his likeness in their ads over the years. On Saturday, his legal team issued a public notice warning brands to not indulge in that practice anymore.
In a letter signed by Rajinkanth’s lawyer Subbiah Elambharathi, brands have been warned that ‘anyone infringing his personality/publicity/celebrity rights’ may face legal action. The letter states that Rajinikanth “is the only person who has control over the commercial utilization of his personality, name, voice, image, likeness, and other characteristics that or and uniquely identifiable, and also associated with him.” This would mean that mimicries and imitations of his face, mannerism, and voice will also be considered infringement. The letter elaborates that these include “but (are) not limited to his name, voice, image, and any other distinctive elements that are uniquely associated with (Rajinikanth).”
Elaborating that ‘any damage or violation to his reputation or persona would entail great loss to our client having its effect over many spheres,” the notice says that the actor would be forced to take all proceedings including civil and criminal in accordance with the law against anyone infringing his intellectual property rights.
Rajinkanth, popularly known as Superstar Rajini among his fans, is one of the leading faces of the Tamil film industry, where he has been the pre-dominant leading man for over four decades now. He has delivered some of the biggest hits in the industry’s history over the years and also has a pan-India popularity, having appeared in successful Hindi films too. The 72-year-old will be next seen in Nelson’s Jailer, which releases in theatres in March.
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