Pop star Dua Lipa is pushing back against Samsung's attempt to dismiss her $15 million federal lawsuit over the unauthorized use of her photograph on television packaging, telling a California court in an October 16, 2026 filing that the electronics giant exploited her likeness without permission and falsely suggested she endorsed its products. Her attorneys called the dispute straightforward, arguing that placing her image on a commercial product sold across the United States was a clear-cut violation of her rights.
The dispute centers on a photograph of Lipa taken backstage at the 2024 Austin City Limits music festival in Austin, Texas. The image appeared inside a simulated television screen printed on the retail boxes of Samsung televisions, positioned alongside content available through the company's Samsung TV Plus streaming service. Samsung has argued that the packaging merely illustrated entertainment programming that owners could watch on its sets rather than suggesting any celebrity endorsement. Lipa's legal team rejected that position, contending that the packaging could reasonably lead consumers to believe she endorsed the televisions, which is precisely the impression right-of-publicity laws are meant to prevent.
Lipa filed the lawsuit on May 8, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false endorsement, and violations of her right of publicity. She claims Samsung used her photograph on a significant portion of the televisions it sold in the United States during 2025 and 2026, despite repeated cease-and-desist demands sent by her representatives. The singer is seeking at least $15 million in damages, a figure that reflects the scale of the product line and the duration of the alleged unauthorized use.
In its dismissal motion, Samsung also attempted to limit Lipa's claims under English law, a move her attorneys opposed in the October filing. The procedural fight now sits with the court, which has not yet indicated when it will rule on the motion.
The case arrives amid a broader wave of litigation in which musicians and other public figures have gone to court to control how their faces and names are used in advertising. As hardware makers increasingly rely on cultural imagery to sell electronics, the line between illustrative content and implied endorsement has become one of the most contested questions in right-of-publicity law. A ruling against Samsung could force electronics brands to rethink how they design retail packaging and to secure clearances before printing celebrity imagery on millions of boxes.
Neither Lipa's representatives nor Samsung has publicly commented beyond the court filings. If the case survives the dismissal motion, it will move into discovery, where the internal decisions behind the packaging design and the full extent of the image's distribution could become public.