The singer Rihanna has successfully fought off an attempt by Topshop to overturn her victory against the retailer in the High Court last year.

The singer Rihanna has successfully fought off an attempt by Topshop to overturn her victory against the retailer in the High Court last year.

Rihanna had brought the case after Topshop began selling T-shirts bearing an image of her which had been taken during a shoot for one of her promotional videos. 

Although the T-shirts were sold as Topshop products not ‘Rihanna’ products, the court accepted her claim that in the circumstances Topshop’s actions amounted to ‘passing off’. In other words, it was likely that customers would believe, wrongly, that the T-shirts had been authorised or approved by Rihanna when that was not the case. As a result, she had been damaged by a loss of potential merchandising revenue.

Such cases involving disputes about the use of celebrity images are relatively rare in the UK. This is because, unlike some other countries, there is no automatic right on the part of a celebrity (or anyone else) to control the use of their likeness or image as such. We do not have an ‘image rights’ law.

Instead, if a celebrity wishes to stop their image being used they can only do so if the particular use conflicts with something that there is a law against, such as copyright law, contract law or an intrusion into a person’s privacy. 

In the Topshop case, none of these options were open to Rihanna. She relied on the law of ‘passing off’ and successfully argued that Topshop was misleading customers that the T-shirts were associated with or endorsed by her. This was despite the fact that the neither the T-shirts, swing tags nor point-of-sale displays used the ‘R’ logo used by Rihanna on her official merchandise. 

Thousands of traders sell ‘unofficial’ celebrity merchandise on a daily basis. So what are the implications of this case for retailers?

The answer is that there is no need to panic. Topshop was unlucky in the sense that prior to selling the T-shirts it had been involved in some promotional events with Rihanna. Also, the particular image on the T-shirt was such that it looked posed and official even though it was neither of those things. It was the combination of special circumstances that almost certainly tipped the balance her way.

If a retailer is selling anything bearing a celebrity’s image without their permission, it must make sure that it owns or has a licence to use the photograph or artwork from the copyright owner. The image must not represent an intrusion into the personal privacy of the subject. But also, there must be no suggestion that the product has been approved or endorsed by the celebrity. 

The danger is greater if there has been recent promotional activity linking the retailer to the celebrity. 

Each case will turn on its facts. But it cannot be ruled out that Rihanna’s success in such a finely balanced case may embolden other celebrities to seek their day in court.  

  • Mike Gardner is head of IP and commercial and partner at Wedlake Bell LLP

Rihanna wins legal battle against Topshop over T-shirt image