On May 8, 2026, Dua Lipa filed a civil lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleging Samsung used a copyrighted photograph of her on Crystal UHD television packaging sold across the United States — without her knowledge, consent, or payment. Lipa is seeking at least $15 million in damages.
The photo at the center of the suit was taken backstage at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2024. Per the complaint, Lipa owns the copyright. The same image appeared on Samsung's cardboard TV box for one of the company's Crystal UHD models.
According to her lawyers, Lipa first became aware of the use in June 2025 and immediately demanded that Samsung remove her image from the packaging. Almost a year later, the suit says, there had been no progress — pushing Lipa to escalate from demand letter to federal court.
The complaint brings four distinct claims: federal copyright infringement, violation of California's right of publicity statute, a federal Lanham Act false-endorsement claim, and trademark claims. The combination is significant — this is not just a copyright lawsuit; it's a coordinated attack on every theory of unauthorized use a celebrity has against an advertiser.
Samsung's response: The company has publicly responded by blaming an unnamed "content partner" who, Samsung says, gave "explicit assurance" that proper permission had been secured before the image was used. The defense theory: Samsung is itself a victim of misrepresentation by a third-party licensor. Whether that licensor is named as a co-defendant or third-party defendant going forward is one of the things to watch.
Coverage so far across CNN, Variety, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter. Per Variety, the headline figure is $15M minimum — with statutory copyright damages on the table that could push the number higher if Lipa proves willful infringement.
- 01Copyright infringement — Lipa owns the photograph (taken backstage at Austin City Limits 2024); Samsung allegedly reproduced and distributed it on TV packaging without a license.
- 02California right of publicity — using Lipa's likeness commercially without consent under California's statute.
- 03Federal Lanham Act false endorsement — putting her image on the box suggests Lipa endorses the Samsung Crystal UHD product when she does not.
- 04Trademark claims — separate federal claims attached to the unauthorized commercial use of her identity.
- 05Demanded removal in June 2025 · nearly a year of inaction before filing · goes to willfulness and possibly enhanced statutory damages.
- 06Samsung's defense pins the failure on an unnamed "content partner" who supposedly gave "explicit assurance" of permission — potentially shifting blame to a downstream licensor.
Major-brand product packaging using a top-tier pop star without paying is the kind of thing that, in 2026, mostly gets settled quietly. Lipa's team gave Samsung ~11 months to fix this through demand letters before going to federal court — and Samsung's "blame the content partner" response is exactly the kind of defense that doesn't end the case, just complicates it. What makes this watchable: (1) the dollar figure ($15M floor, willful copyright statutory damages could push higher), (2) the layered claims (copyright + ROP + Lanham + trademark — each independently liable, each with separate damages tracks), and (3) whether the "content partner" Samsung is pointing to gets named and dragged into the case. If they do, this becomes a useful precedent for how celebrities should structure their next image-rights enforcement playbook against global brands.