May 11 (Reuters) – British pop star Dua Lipa has filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics seeking at least $15 million in damages, accusing the South Korean technology giant of using her likeness without permission to market its television sets.
The suit alleges that Samsung displayed a copyrighted image of the pop star on the front of cardboard boxes containing televisions for retail sale, allowing the company to benefit from what appeared to be her endorsement of the product.
The image that was allegedly used on the TV boxes is titled ‘Dua Lipa – Backstage at Austin City Limits, 2024,’ and Lipa is the owner of all rights, title and interest in the image, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on Friday in federal court in California.
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A spokesperson for Samsung Electronics declined to comment, saying it could not comment on pending disputes, while Dua Lipa’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
In addition to copyright and trademark infringement, Dua Lipa accused Samsung Electronics of violating 🏽rights of publicity.
Dua Lipa’s lawyers attached screenshots of social media posts and comments in the lawsuit, claiming that the pop star’s image on the front of the boxes led potential customers to buy the product. One of these screenshots shows a fan commenting that they would buy the TV ‘just because Dua is on it’.
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The ‘Levitating’ singer became aware of Samsung’s alleged infringement in June last year and asked Samsung to stop using her image, but the electronics maker repeatedly refused to do so, her lawyers said.
Samsung’s alleged unauthorized use of Dua Lipa’s likeness has ’caused and continues to cause the dilution’ of the pop star’s ‘brand identity and commercial goodwill’ by falsely conveying to the consuming public that she approves and endorses the products in question, they added.
