Rihanna
was not in court for the proceedings
Singer
Rihanna has won her High Court battle with fashion chain Topshop over T-shirts
bearing her image.The Barbadian singer accused the fashion chain of passing
off, or attempting to pass off, the garments as being approved by her.Topshop
disputed her claim.
Judge
Mr Justice Birss ruled in favour of the Umbrella singer after a hearing in
London.He said Topshop's sale of a Rihanna T-shirt at the centre of the dispute
was an act of "passing off".
But
he said the "mere sale" of a T-shirt bearing the image of a famous
person was not necessarily an act of "passing off".The T-shirt was
withdrawn from sale
He said a "substantial number" of
buyers were likely to have been deceived into buying the Rihanna T-shirt
because of a "false belief" that it had been authorised by the
singer.The judge said that was damaging to her "goodwill" and
represented a loss of control over her reputation in the "fashion
sphere".
He
said it was for the singer, not Topshop, to choose what garments the public
thought were endorsed by her.Bringing the action under her full name of Robyn
Rihanna Fenty, the US-based celebrity alleged an unknown quantity of T-shirts
was acquired by Topshop in 2011 and early 2012 and offered for sale under the
name "Rihanna Tank".
Court
documents claimed that, after being challenged by the singer's lawyers, Topshop
dropped her name from the T-shirt and referred to it as "Headscarf Girl
Tank", and then to "Icon Tank".
The
image under attack was taken by a freelance photographer "without her
permission" while the pop star was filming a video in Northern Ireland for
one of her singles in 2011.Rihanna had claimed that she was entitled to damages
from Arcadia Group Brands, which operates Topshop, for the unauthorised use of
her picture.
The
judge did not make any assessment of damages in a written judgment.Topshop,
which is considering an appeal, said it was "disappointed"with the
decision and said it believes its "reputation and popularity" has
worked against it.Rihanna was not in court for the proceedings.
The
European leg of her Diamonds World Tour has just come to an end and she is
understood to be taking a break before it continues in Macau, China, in
September
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