Topshop to pay Rihanna legal costs
Topshop has been ordered to pay pop star Rihanna’s legal costs following their multi-million pound battle over a T-shirt.
The high-street store lost the dispute when both the High Court and Court of Appeal declared Topshop had used her image unlawfully on a “tank” sleeveless T-shirt sold to thousands of fans.
Topshop and its parent company Arcadia disputed having to pay Rihanna’s legal bill, which has been unofficially estimated at about £1m.
They argued there was “no proper basis” for forcing them to pay up.
But, today, appeal judges Lord Justice Richards, Lord Justice Kitchin and Lord Justice Underhill ruled the costs order was “reasonable” and dismissed the challenge.
The legal battle was over a T-shirt featuring a photo taken during a video shoot for Rihanna’s hit We Found Love in 2011.
Her legal team successfully argued her fans, who saw her as a fashion icon, would have falsely thought she had endorsed the garment sold by the high-street fashion store.
Three appeal judges agreed with an earlier High Court ruling that marketing the fashion item without the 26-year-old singer’s approval amounts to ”passing off”.
