Dua Lipa files $15m lawsuit against Samsung over unauthorised use of her image

Pop star Dua Lipa has filed a $15m lawsuit against Samsung in the US District Court for the Central District of California, alleging the electronics company used a photograph of her face on television packaging without her knowledge or permission. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, claims Samsung's conduct was designed to exploit Lipa's public profile to promote its products.

According to the filing, the image in question was taken during Lipa's performance at the 2024 Austin City Limits Festival. Lipa owns the copyright to the photograph, and no licence or authorisation was granted to Samsung for its commercial use. The lawsuit alleges Samsung featured the image prominently across various television models sold in the United States.

What Samsung is accused of in Dua Lipa's lawsuit

The legal action covers four distinct allegations: copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and misappropriation of Lipa's likeness and image. The filing states Samsung's packaging was designed to improperly capitalise on the singer's reputation to drive sales of its products. Lipa's legal team argues that fans on social media began identifying the packaging as the Dua Lipa TV Box, with some users stating they would purchase the television specifically because of her image.

The complaint cites two Instagram comments as evidence of commercial benefit: one user said they would get that TV just because Dua is on it, and another wrote that putting a photograph of Lipa on any product would guarantee sales. The filing presents these comments as evidence that Samsung derived measurable commercial advantage from the unauthorised use of her image.

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How Dua Lipa discovered her image on Samsung packaging

Lipa first became aware that her photograph had appeared on Samsung television boxes in June 2025. According to the filing, fans sharing images on social media initially brought the packaging to wider attention. The photograph had by then already appeared on boxes for multiple Samsung television models across the US market.

Lipa's legal team sent Samsung cease-and-desist demands, requesting the company stop using her image and image rights. According to the lawsuit, Samsung ignored these repeated requests, prompting the legal action filed in California federal court.

Dua Lipa's existing brand partnerships

The complaint references Lipa's established portfolio of commercial partnerships as context for the value of her image rights. Lipa holds or has held partnerships with Puma, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent, and has collaborated commercially with Apple, Porsche, and Chanel. More recently, she became a global ambassador for Nespresso. The filing uses these partnerships to illustrate that Lipa's image carries significant commercial value and that she exercises careful control over how it is used in promotional contexts.

For related coverage on how AI-generated content is raising similar image rights concerns in entertainment, see ByteDance faces legal pressure over AI video generator copyright concerns.

Samsung's response and next steps in the case

No public statement from Samsung addressing the lawsuit's allegations has been issued at the time of filing. The case is proceeding in the US District Court for the Central District of California, which handles a substantial volume of entertainment and intellectual property litigation involving major commercial defendants.

Lipa's most recent studio album, Radical Optimism, was released in 2024. The lawsuit does not allege any connection between the album's release and the Samsung packaging, but the timing means the image appeared on retail products during one of the higher-profile periods of the singer's public career.

What this case means for celebrity image rights in commercial packaging

The Dua Lipa claim illustrates the tension between consumer brands seeking to capitalise on cultural recognition and the legal protections available to public figures over their likeness and identity. The $15m figure reflects not just claimed damages but the commercial value the lawsuit argues Samsung extracted from the unauthorised association. If the case proceeds to trial, it could clarify how US courts assess likeness value in product packaging disputes and what constitutes sufficient evidence of commercial benefit from unauthorised celebrity association. The case is also notable for the role social media played in exposing the alleged infringement, a pattern increasingly common in intellectual property enforcement.