Summary: Singer Rihanna has come out victorious in her lawsuit against Arcadia Group Brands Ltd. for their use of a photo of her without permission.
Popular singer Rihanna has won a lawsuit against Arcadia Group Brands Ltd.’s, Topshop for shirts that featured a picture of her from 2011, according to Bloomberg.
Rihanna is known for her songs “Umbrella” and “Wait Your Turn” among others.
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The ruling came from a panel of three judges at an appellate court in London and was issued on Thursday. They ruled that using the photo of Rihanna without her permission was a “passing off” of an unregistered trademark.
The ruling from the appeals court upheld a ruling from a lower court that heard the case.
Philip Green owns Arcadia Group, which had a license from the photographer to use the image, but it did not have one from Rihanna. Her lawyers argued that customers could have been duped into thinking the shirt was approved by her.
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“There is a lucrative market for celebrity endorsed goods and provided the public consider the product with a celebrity image is ‘official’ and is authorized by that celebrity, the celebrity will be able to protect use of their image,” said Jeremy Blum, an intellectual property lawyer at law firm Bristows LLP
Arcadia did not issue comment regarding the ruling from the appeals court Thursday.
Michael Skrein, a lawyer from Reed Smith LLP
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Arcadia’s request to appeal the decision made Thursday was also turned down by the Court of Appeals.
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Image credit: popcrush.com
Source: Bloomberg