Dua Lipa sues Samsung for $15 million over unauthorized TV box photo
Dua Lipa is suing Samsung for at least $15 million after the company used her photo on TV packaging without permission — and then refused to stop. The lawsuit, filed May 8, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims Samsung has been printing the image on its television boxes since 2025. For any buyer who assumed Lipa endorsed the product, that confusion is exactly what the suit is built on.
The photo
The image in question was taken backstage at the 2024 Austin City Limits Festival. Lipa owns the copyright — registered under number VA 2-479-685 — and says she never gave Samsung permission to use it commercially. According to the complaint, she first demanded Samsung remove the photo in June 2025. The company's response, per her legal team, was "dismissive and callous." Samsung kept using the image for nearly a year before she filed suit, per Engadget.
The claims
The lawsuit stacks four separate legal arguments: copyright infringement, trademark infringement, violation of the right of publicity, and false endorsement under the Lanham Act. California's right-of-publicity statute (Section 3344) is one of the strongest in the country, and the willful-infringement angle — Samsung pressing on after a cease-and-desist — significantly raises the potential damages ceiling.
Why it matters
Lipa's endorsement history matters here. She has worked with Apple, Chanel, Porsche, Tiffany & Co., Puma, YSL Beauty, Bvlgari, and Nespresso — all structured, paid partnerships. That selective record is evidence of both her brand's market value and a deliberate strategy of control over who she's seen promoting. Samsung placing her face on mass-produced TV boxes without a deal breaks that model entirely, and her lawyers will use those prior partnerships to put a dollar figure on what an authorized deal would have cost. Rolling Stone confirms the image appeared on units sold in the US market; whether it also appeared on packaging distributed elsewhere remains unclear from the court filing.
Samsung has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. The company's silence since June 2025 — when Lipa first raised the issue — is likely to feature prominently when the case reaches court.
