Rihanna won a legal battle against Topshop clothing retailer over their unauthorized use of her likeness on a line of T-shirts from last season. According to The Guardian, the 25-year-old pop star, acting under her birth name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, sued Topshop's parent company Arcadia for $5 million over the use of her image without consent. Rihanna claimed that the store used an unauthorized photo on the T-shirts of her filming the music video for "We Found Love" in Northern Ireland. She claimed that the image used bore a strong resemblance to the photograph used on the cover for her "Talk That Talk" album, and that fans purchasing the shirt would be confused into thinking that it was Rihanna-endorsed merchandise that had, in her words, "an emotional connection to their heroine."
Topshop argued that it purchased a license for the photo from the photographer who took the picture. Topshop's legal defense argued that Rihanna was not legally entitled to have a monopoly on how her persona is marketed to the public.
British high court judge Mr. Justice Birss argued in favor of Rihanna on the legal precedent of "passing off," which is the principle that describes the illegalities of confusing consumers over an article of clothing's apparent status. The judge ruled that the store caused "a loss of control over [Rihanna's] reputation in the fashion sphere." However, he also made it clear that public figures have no "freestanding, general right" over the control of their image. The photo used was also not found to have been obtained through a breach of privacy.
"The mere sale by a trader of a T-shirt bearing an image of a famous person is not, without more, an act of passing off," Birss stated. "However, the sale of this image of this person on this garment by this shop in these circumstances is a different matter. I find that Topshop's sale of this Rihanna T-shirt without her approval was an act of passing off."
Topshop, unsurprisingly, is not happy with the outcome, and is seeking permission to appeal. A Topshop spokesperson made a statement today regarding the verdict, "We robustly dispute the judge's conclusion. We believe that our customers clearly understand when we are undertaking a collaboration, such as the one we created with Kate Moss over several seasons."