Dua Lipa Sells Books, Not HDTVs

Dua Lipa is first and foremost a pop star and second a distinguished reader who gives speeches about the power of translated literature. What she is not is a person whose image tech companies can use to hawk televisions without permission. The “Levitating” singer is suing Samsung for $15 million for copyright violation, trademark infringement, and infringing on her “right of publicity,” per the New York Times. In the court filing, Lipa’s lawyers included a picture of a Samsung box that featured a photo of a TV displaying her face. She claims that the photo in question was taken at Austin City Limits in 2024 and that she owns it. The suit says Samsung used the photo on boxes for a “significant portion” of the TVs it has sold in U.S. in the past year. “Ms. Lipa did not allow and would not have allowed this use,” the filing states.

In the suit filed on May 8, Lipa’s lawyers added that the marketing of the box was “inextricably tied to the false message conveyed to consumers that Ms. Lipa has endorsed the Infringing Products when she has not.” They cited social-media posts in which fans said they hadn’t purchased Samsung TVs until seeing Lipa on the branding. “Samsung exploited Ms. Lipa’s carefully curated and extremely valuable brand identity to sell televisions, by using, without authorization, Ms. Lipa’s copyrighted image on the front of cardboard boxes offering Samsung televisions for sale,” the lawsuit says, per NBC-5 DFW. “Ms. Lipa’s face was prominently used for a mass marketing campaign for a consumer product without her knowledge, consideration, and as to which she had no say, control, or input whatsoever.” Now maybe if they put her face on a box of Booker Prize winners, the situation would be different.