Dua Lipa has made headlines this week for filing suit against Samsung for allegedly using her copyrighted image for commercial purposes without permission. And this isn’t just a small claim, either.
The Albanian-born British singer is seeking an eye-watering $15 million (around £11 million / AU$21 million), as Samsung plastered this image all over the packaging of its televisions.
Lipa’s legal team claims that this influenced sales and “diluted” her brand among fans, some of whom may have bought a Samsung TV after seeing their favorite singer on the box.
I’m hardly feeling sorry for Lipa, who had already amassed an estimated fortune of over $100 million (£74 million / AU$138 million) before the age of 30.
But, as a photographer, I certainly do care about the law of copyright and how vital it is to uphold – especially in a case involving someone as influential as a world-famous pop star.
The way I see it, if Dua Lipa of all people can be crushed in civil court by a large company that apparently not only stole her image, but used it to make profit, then there’s no hope for any of us photographers safeguarding our work.
Especially professional photographers trying to make a living from the craft with AI already “sampling” (*cough* stealing *splutter*) work on a daily basis.
Adding insult to injury from a photographer’s perspective is that Lipa has been fighting this battle since last June.
That's when she found out that her image had been taken – an image which the legal complaint, filed in California, claims adorns the packaging of a “significant portion” of Samsung TVs sold in the US last year.
According to The Guardian’s report, the image in question was taken backstage at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2024. We don’t know who took the image, only that Lipa is the subject and, according to the suit, the rights holder.
But imagine, as a practicing photographer, that it was your image that was used without permission, and that image contributed to generating millions in sales for somebody else. You’d be livid.
Samsung has since denied any "intentional misuse", claiming that the image was supplied by content partner with “explicit assurance” that it had been cleared, noting that it “has actively sought and remains open to a constructive resolution”.
Until solid evidence comes to light that the electronics giant was within legal bounds to not only use the image, but subsequently slap Lipa’s likeness all over a product she never endorsed in the first place, I stand with the singer.
She might not be the person who took the image at the center of this fiasco, but for as long as this case is ongoing, she does represent every photographer who’s ever fought for control over work they created.
Once it’s over, I can then go back to not giving a rat’s ass about celebrities.
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