As of early 2026, numerous Bollywood celebrities from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan to Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Anilk Kapoor, and others, have taken the legal route to protect their personality rights against unauthorised use of their likeness. Now, Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey has sounded the alarm for fellow actors to do the same in the age of artificial intelligence.
Matthew McConaughey asks Hollywood to trademark their likeness
Speaking at a town hall event at the University of Texas at Austin alongside his ‘Interstellar’ co-star Timothee Chalamet, the Oscar winner addressed the subject on the rapid rise of AI in the entertainment industry. In the chat, the Oscar winner revealed why he recently trademarked his iconic catchphrase from ‘Dazed and Confused’.“It’s coming. It’s already here,” McConaughey said in response to a student’s question about the growing influence of AI. “Don’t deny it. It’s not going to be enough to sit on the sidelines and make the moral plea that, ‘No, this is wrong’. It’s not gonna last. There’s too much money to be made, and it’s too productive. So I say, own yourself. Voice, likeness, et cetera. Trademark it. Whatever you gotta do, so when it comes, no one can steal you.”
Matthew McConaughey on how Hollywood can earn from AI
McConaughey further went on to explain, “They gotta come to you and go, ‘Timothee, I’d like you to be at my 50th birthday party in five months, and I’m gonna be in the Bahamas. I know you can’t be there in person, but I’m gonna halo you in and I want you as your character in ‘Marty Supreme’. They can do that, but they’re gonna have to come to you to go, ‘Can I?’ Or they’re going to be in breach. And you’ll have the chance to be your own agency and go, ‘Yeah, for this amount’. Or, ‘No’.”
Bollywood stars seek protection of their personality rights
His comments come at a time when a growing number of Bollywood stars and singers sought judicial protection against unauthorised AI-generated content, deepfakes and commercial exploitation of their image and likeness. Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan secured rights over his name, voice and image to prevent misuse, while Anil Kapoor obtained a landmark court order protecting his persona, including his trademark “jhakaas” catchphrase. Meanwhile, Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty have secured protection against unauthorised use of their image and voice, and Kajol was recently granted legal relief against obscene AI-generated content misusing her likeness.
