Dua Lipa has filed a $15 million suit against South Korean tech giant Samsung. Lipa claims that the company used her image on its product packaging without her prior authorization.
According to Variety, the singer filed the lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges that Samsung has placed the picture of Lipa in action on stage at the Austin City Limits Festival on TV packaging since last year.
Lipa claims that when she discovered this, she contacted the company to ask them to take the picture down, but Samsung responded dismissively and rejected her request.
As stated in the complaint, “Ms. Lipa’s face was prominently used for a mass marketing campaign for a consumer product without her knowledge, without consideration, and as to which she had no say, control, or input whatsoever.” Moreover, the filing states that Lipa did not grant permission for such an act and would not have done so.
The lawsuit claims that Samsung has been using the picture for profit, despite owning its copyright. To demonstrate the commercial impact of the image, Samsung is accused of profiting from Lipa’s endorsement, as evidenced by several tweets on the social media platform X. In one of those, a person posted, “I wasn’t even planning on buying a TV, but I saw the box, so I decided to get it.”
Another tweet said that Lipa’s picture was enough of a reason for them to purchase the product. According to the complaint, Ms. Lipa has an established “premium brand” and thus uses her face only with select companies, making Samsung’s move particularly damaging.
Samsung’s use of the singer’s face constitutes copyright infringement, a violation of California’s right-of-publicity statute, a Lanham Act claim, and trademark infringement.
