Dua Lipa Urges Judge to Keep $15m Samsung TV-Box Case Alive
Dua Lipa has asked a federal judge to refuse Samsung's bid to dismiss her $15 million lawsuit over her photograph appearing on television boxes.
Her lawyers filed a 30-page response on October 15 in the US District Court for the Central District of California. The filing describes Samsung's use of the image as "theft" and argues the case should proceed, Music Business Worldwide reported.
Lipa sued Samsung on May 8. She alleges that a copyrighted photo of her appeared on the front of cardboard boxes containing Samsung TVs sold across the United States, Reuters reported.
At the centre of the dispute is an image titled "Dua Lipa – Backstage at Austin City Limits, 2024". Lipa says she owns the copyright in the photograph, meaning she holds the legal right to control how it is copied and used. Her complaint names Samsung Electronics America Inc. and its parent, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
She is seeking at least $15 million in damages. The claim also asks for punitive damages, extra money intended to punish, plus legal fees and a permanent court order barring Samsung from using her image.
Samsung asked the court to throw out the case on September 10. The company argued Lipa cannot claim trademark rights in a picture of her own face and said the packaging did not suggest she endorsed the televisions.
Samsung also argued that English law should govern two of Lipa's claims, and that England does not recognise a right of publicity, the legal right to control commercial use of a person's name or likeness. On the corporate claims, it said the complaint shows only an ordinary parent-subsidiary relationship and does not show the parent company controlled the alleged infringement. It added that the complaint fails to separate what each Samsung company is accused of doing.
Samsung said the photo was part of a larger picture of a TV home screen. That screen illustrated XITE HITS, a music video channel available on Samsung TV Plus.
Lipa's team rejected that explanation. Her lawyers said her face is the dominant element on the box and nothing on the packaging identifies her as channel content. They said Samsung used her likeness without her consent and sold the TVs in California and across the US.
The response points to history with the same company. In 1992, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit allowed television personality Vanna White to pursue claims against Samsung over a VCR advertisement featuring a robot dressed to resemble her.
The case is listed as Dua Lipa v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Case No. 2:26-cv-05019 in the Central District of California. The court docket lists the cause as copyright infringement under federal law. A judge has not yet ruled on the dismissal request, Billboard reported.
