Samsung put Dua Lipa’s face on its TV boxes. Now, the electronics company is arguing that she cannot claim trademark rights over the image.
According to Rolling Stone, Samsung Electronics America and its South Korean parent company have asked a California federal judge to throw out the pop star’s $15 million lawsuit concerning a photo featured on television packaging distributed throughout the United States. In a September 10 court filing, Samsung argues that Lipa’s eight-count complaint attempts to turn a single disputed image into copyright, trademark, false endorsement, and publicity claims that lack legal merit.
The image features Lipa backstage at the 2024 Austin City Limits Festival. On Samsung’s packaging, the photo was placed within a rendering of the TV’s home screen, where it served as the backdrop for XITE HITS, a music-video channel available through Samsung TV Plus.
Icons for ABC News Live, Fox Sports, MLB, and The First 48 by A&E were displayed beneath it.
Lipa, who owns the photograph and has registered it with the U.S. Copyright Office, says Samsung never obtained permission to use or reproduce the image. Her lawsuit claims that a “significant portion” of the company’s televisions sold across the U.S. beginning in 2025 featured her face on the packaging, potentially giving consumers the impression that she had approved or endorsed the products.
Samsung is asking the court to reject that claim.
“Plaintiff does not, and cannot, hold a trademark in her own image or likeness,” the company’s attorneys wrote.
The filing points to previous cases involving Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth, and Bob Marley, arguing that a celebrity’s fame does not automatically transform every photograph of them into a protected trademark.
Samsung further argues that the packaging did not portray Lipa as a spokesperson. The company says her photograph was merely included as part of a mock television interface and was not intended to suggest that she had entered into a partnership with Samsung.
The company also pushed back against social-media posts cited in Lipa’s complaint, including one that said sellers should “just put a picture of Dua Lipa on it.” Samsung characterized such comments as social-media hyperbole rather than evidence that consumers actually believed Lipa endorsed the televisions.
The distinction is significant for Lipa, whose lawsuit presents control over her name and likeness as a multimillion-dollar commercial asset. She has connected her image to a carefully selected lineup of major fashion and luxury campaigns, including partnerships with Versace and Yves Saint Laurent.
Her legal team maintains that Samsung benefited commercially from that association without negotiating an agreement with her or compensating her.
Lipa says she discovered the packaging in June 2025 and promptly issued cease-and-desist demands. Her complaint characterizes Samsung’s response as “dismissive and callous.”
Samsung later claimed that an unnamed content partner had specifically assured the company that permission to use the photograph had been obtained, including permission for it to appear on retail packaging.
The company’s request for dismissal does not directly dispute whether the photograph is protected by copyright. Instead, Samsung argues that Lipa failed to establish which Samsung entity actually reproduced or distributed the image. The filing also contends that she has not demonstrated that Samsung’s South Korean parent company controlled the alleged actions of its U.S. subsidiary.
Samsung is challenging Lipa’s publicity claims on another basis: geography. The company argues that because Lipa lives in the United Kingdom, she cannot invoke California’s right-of-publicity protections. Its lawyers contend that England does not provide an equivalent standalone right concerning a person’s image or likeness.
Finally, Samsung describes the lawsuit as an impermissible “shotgun” complaint, arguing that it repeatedly groups the two corporate entities together without clearly identifying the specific actions allegedly taken by each.
Judge Christina A. Snyder is scheduled to hear Samsung’s motion on December 14.
