On 8th May 2026, pop star Dua Lipa filed a $15m (£11m) lawsuit against Samsung in the District Court of California alleging that Samsung used her image on the packaging of their TV set boxes – and did so, without her permission.

Dua Lipa alleges that Samsung’s packaging was “designed to improperly capitalize on Ms. Lipa’s hard-earned success to promote and sell Samsung’s products”.

Samsung has denied the allegations and has instead pointed out that they “used [it] (sic) only after receiving explicit assurance from the content partner that permission had been secured”.

On Tuesday 12th May 2026, Prof. Dinusha Mendis gave a radio interview on the various issues surrounding this case. The interview aired on BBC Radio Solent on 14 May 2026 is published here (starting at 2:07:57).

Mendis spoke about the copyright, trade mark and the rights of publicity arising from the alleged unauthorised use of Dua Lipa’s brand, image, likeness etc.

Dua Lipa has a number of sponsorships, endorsements, and other promotional partnerships, based on the use of her name and image. For example, she has partnerships with companies such as Yes Saint Laurent, Porsche, Apple, Chanel, Tiffany, and other luxury and fashion houses and she featured widely in a marketing campaign for the Winter Olympics in Milan in 2026.

It is not uncommon for celebrities to protect their names, images, likeness, and even phrases. For example, Taylor Swift trademarked terms tied to her brand such as “Taylor Swift,” “Swifties’. Matthew McConaughey recently trade marked his famous phrase ‘alright, alright alright’ and some years ago, Usain Bolt trademarked his famous lightning-bolt victory pose.

The issue with Samsung is that Dua Lipa alleges that she did not give Samsung permission to use her image or name.

In relation to the the image itself, it was a picture of Dua Lipa, which was taken Backstage at Austin City Limits Festival in 2024. Dua Lipa is owner of the photograph and therefore from a copyright perspective, Samsung has infringed her copyright if they have used it without her permission.

Dua Lipa holds trade mark rights in her brand and image and therefore if her image is used lawfully it gives the impression to consumers that she has endorsed a certain product – and in this case Samsung TV sets. Without her consent, Samsung has allegedly, benefitted substantially from the unauthorised copying and distribution of the Dua Lipa’s image. There is evidence of this from fans, who have posted on social media, stating that they are buying the Samsung TV sets, because Dua Lipa is on it.

Thirdly, Dua Lipa is the owner of the rights of publicity in her identity, persona, image, and likeness which is protected under California law’s right of publicity. Using her image and likeness without her authorisation means that Dua Lipa is entitled to damages and to Samsung’s profits in an amount that will be proven at trial.

(Image: from the complaint filed in the US District Court, Central District of California. Case No 2:26-cv-05019).