Combatting AI deepfakes to safeguard Indian cricketers’ image rights
Combatting AI deepfakes to safeguard Indian cricketers’ image rights
Publish Date: 2026-07-14 06:53:00
Source Domain: www.wipo.int
The rise of AI-generated deepfakes poses significant challenges to protecting the personality and publicity rights of women. Taking India’s world-class women’s cricketers as an example, it highlights vulnerabilities in current legal frameworks amid the rapid growth of women’s cricket and AI technologies.
The maiden victory of the Indian women’s cricket team at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup 2025 was more than a breakthrough for the sport; it was a triumphant celebration of culture that echoed from the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, where the match was held.
As the team was crowned the new world champions, a parallel phenomenon began to unfold on social media: brands and corporate entities eager to ride the wave of national pride turned this victory into “moment marketing” by using generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tools to create celebratory posts.
Moment marketing is a strategy whereby brands capitalize on real-time events and spontaneous fan energy to create culturally relevant content. Following India’s ICC World Cup victory, for example, several celebratory images went viral, including one of the team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, seen in bed with the trophy next to her. While this was a moment of authentic marketing, the image was inauthentic – it was AI generated.
How deepfakes infringed Indian cricketers’ personality and publicity rights
According to a 2024 report by McAfee, there has been a surge in deepfakes in India, whereby bad actors impersonate consumers and public figures across spheres such as business, politics, entertainment and sport.
In today’s digitally connected world, many people are highly susceptible to such scams, and unknowingly repost deepfake content on social media without verifying its origin.
While the posts concerning the Indian women’s cricket team appeared patriotic, they inadvertently exposed a legal vulnerability: the commercial and personal fragility of the…
