Rihanna wins High Court Battle against Topshop in '$5MILLION lawsuit' for using her image without permission

The judge ruled in the singer's favour saying Topshop's sale of the T-shirt was an act of "passing off"

The picture is believed to be taken from her music video

Rihanna has won her High Court Battle to ban high street fashion chain Topshop from selling T-shirts with her image on them.
The star is suing for $5 MILLION (£3.3m) against parent company Arcadia Group Brands Ltd.
Rihanna was not in court for the proceedings as Judge Mr Justice Birss took just two-minutes to rule in her favour at a hearing in London.
The picture at the centre of the row appears to have been taken from Rihanna’s video for No1 hit We Found Love, released in 2011.

The feisty singer and two Los Angeles-based associated companies claim she is entitled to damages for the unauthorised use of her picture.
RiRi states that not only was her image used on a range of T-shirts without her permission but she thinks she looks ugly on them, too.
Her lawyers also claimed the picture was "very similar" to images used on CD sleeves for one of her albums.
Justice Birss said Topshop's sale of the Rihanna T-shirt was an act of "passing off".

To be fair, this T-shirt is a crime against fashion

Mr Justice Birss said it was damaging to her "goodwill" and ultimately represented a loss of control over her reputation in the "fashion sphere".
He added there was "no such thing as a general right by a famous person to control the reproduction of their image".
"The taking of the photograph is not suggested to have breached Rihanna's privacy," he continued.
"The mere sale by a trader of a T-shirt bearing an image of a famous person is not an act of passing off.
"However, I find that Topshop's sale of this T-shirt was an act of passing off."
Rihanna has various lucrative endorsement deals with retailers including Topshop’s high-street rival River Island.

The claim filed by the star, 25, and her City law firm Reed Smith says she would never have allowed the high street giant to use them.
One section reads: “The base image of the first claimant (Rihanna) is of such an unflattering nature that it would not be approved.”
The mostly-naked-on-Instagram-singer was also far from happy with the quality of the tops – which featured her with her hair tied up in a bandana – and branded them “poor”.
The papers, filed in March last year, describe the tees as a “low-quality image and product that would not have been authorised by the first claimant”.

The image under attack was taken by a freelance photographer "without her permission" while Rihanna was filming a video in Northern Ireland for one of her first singles in 2011.
Rihanna's lawyers requested an injunction to prevent Arcadia and Topshop continuing to sell clothes "using the mark Rihanna or any confusingly similar name", or passing off any goods as approved by her.
They also want the delivery up or destruction of all clothes which would breach the injunction and the payment of damages.

Calling for the claim to be dismissed, Arcadia lawyers argue that, in substance, the singer is seeking legal recognition for an assumption that "only a celebrity or her successors may ever market, or license the marketing, of her own character".
They contend that the monopoly pre-supposed by that claim "does not in point of law exist and certainly cannot be provided for by the law of passing off".