Dua Lipa sues Samsung for $15 million for allegedly using her image to sell TVs

British pop star Dua Lipa has filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics seeking at least $15 million in damages, accusing the South Korean tech giant of using her image without permission to market its television sets.



The lawsuit alleges that Samsung featured a copyrighted image of the pop star on the front of cardboard boxes containing televisions for retail sale, enabling the company to benefit from what seemed like her endorsement of the product. The image alleged to have been 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, the lawsuit said. The suit was filed on Friday in the California federal court.



Besides copyright and trademark infringement, Lipa has accused Samsung Electronics of breaching publicity rights.



Samsung Electronics denied allegations of intentional misuse of the image, which it said was provided by a third-party partner that created the content involving Lipa for Samsung's free streaming service.



"The image was used only after receiving explicit assurance from the content partner that permission had been secured, including for the retail boxes," Samsung said in a statement.