Mumbai: Amazon Prime India has been directed by Bombay High Court to take down a Telugu movie from its platform unless and until the makers delete a scene in which an actor’s picture was allegedly used without her consent.
Justice Gautam Patel delivered the ruling while hearing a defamation suit, filed by model and actor Sakshi Malik against Venkateswara Creations Pvt Ltd, in which she claimed her photograph has been used w
ithout permission in the movie ‘V’.
The film, released on September 5, 2020, is available on Amazon Prime.
Malik claimed that she had commissioned a lensman in 2017 to create her portfolio.
“In August 2017, she (Malik) posted some photographs from the portfolio on her Instagram account. One of these photos was used in a scene of the Telugu movie where there is a reference to a female escort or a commercial sex worker,” the petition stated.
Malik’s advocates argued that this was a “wholly unauthorised invasion of privacy” and, most importantly, the complaint is about the “nature of use of the photograph.” Using the image to depict a sex worker is defamatory, they contended.
“Prima facie, I believe he is correct. Indeed, I do not believe there is any other way of looking at it,” the judge noted.