Rihanna‘s face makes a ton of money, but if the cash isn’t going into her pocket, you better not use it.
The Bajan beauty and popular fashion company Topshop have been involved in a lawsuit against each other, as she sued them for using an image of her on their tank tops.
According to Fashionista, three British judges have ruled in favor of RiRi, after Topshop filed an appeal in November after losing the case back in July of 2013.
The tank tops that sparked the lawsuit contained a paparazzi photo of Rihanna on set of her “We Found Love” video, where they were given permission to use it by the photographer, but not by Rihanna herself.
The site reports:
The question at the heart of the original case was whether it was an instance of “passing off,” which Howard Hogan, a lawyer at Gibson Dunn who was not involved in the case but specializes in fashion law, explains as a UK application of what we call trademark infringement in the U.S.
To prove that Topshop’s sale of the tanks qualifies as passing off, Rihanna had to establish that she had a reputation among the public (duh), that people were deceived into thinking they were buying a shirt she authorized and that that misrepresentation would damage her reputation. In this case, “damage” could mean sales lost by her own merchandising business and a loss of control over her reputation in the fashion world.
Rihanna doesn’t play when it comes to her brand and money, and we can’t say we blame her.
SOURCE: Fashionista
