May 26, 2026

When a Smart TV Manufacturer is Stupid: Dua Lipa v. Samsung

By Emily Poler

In an era where a lot of people have a problem taking responsibility — or, as is more weirdly said nowadays, “accountability” — for their actions and mistakes, institutions and large corporations are no different. Witness Samsung’s shrug of a response to a complaint filed against it earlier this month by pop star Dua Lipa, which essentially boils down to “someone told us what we were doing was OK.” 

It’s a pretty simple suit. The Seoul-based electronics manufacturer and its US subsidiary has been selling televisions in boxes adorned with this image of the English entertainer: 

According to Ms. Lipa’s complaint, filed in California this month, the photo was taken backstage at the 2024 Austin City Limits Festival and shared in this post on her official Instagram account. The complaint further says that Dua Lipa has a registered copyright in the image, and thus asserts copyright and trademark infringement claims against Samsung, along with violation of Dua Lipa’s right of publicity.

The copyright claims are based on Samsung’s use of a copyrighted image without permission. The trademark claims are based on assertions that, by using her image to market televisions, Samsung is implying that she is endorsing its products. The right of publicity claims are based on Samsung’s use of her extremely valuable image in a commercial setting without permission.

Does this really matter? Well, according to Lipa’s team, shortly after the box appeared her fans began calling it the “Dua Lipa TV Box” on their socials, and the lawsuit cites specific Instagram comments like one user saying they would “get that TV just because Dua is on it,” and “if you need anything selling just put a picture of Dua Lipa on it.”

So yeah, it matters. Naturally, as with any modern celebrity, Ms. Lipa has legitimate sponsorship agreements with brands like Puma, Versace, and Yves Saint Laurent. She does not work with Samsung, and it seems obvious that someone in Dua Lipa’s organization would be aware of whether she gave anyone permission to use her photo on their product packaging.

The complaint goes on to say that Dua Lipa’s lawyers approached Samsung about trying to resolve this matter and Samsung refused, ignoring “repeated demands” to “cease and desist from infringing on her rights.” In other words, shrug, because hey, sue me.

Samsung did eventually issue a statement, saying the photo was “originally provided by a content partner for our free streaming service Samsung TV Plus. The image was used only after receiving explicit assurance from the content partner that permission had been secured, including for the retail boxes. Given this assurance, we deny any allegations of intentional misuse.” So far Samsung has not named that third-party “content partner.”

In my view this is not a great defense. Notably, Samsung doesn’t say “oh, hey, we have this written agreement that lets us use this image.” Nor does it say, “once we found out there was an issue we immediately took steps to correct this problem.” Rather, this sounds an awful lot like a teenager saying, “gosh, my friend’s parents told me I could!” when caught doing something they weren’t supposed to do. (Also, I have a teenager at home, so maybe I’m just seeing everything in terms of how a modern kid might see the world.) 

Samsung’s statement goes on: “We have actively sought and remain open to a constructive resolution with Ms. Lipa’s team.” Here’s a suggestion for a constructive resolution: take the darn picture off the boxes when asked instead of (allegedly) ignoring her requests to do so and then claiming you have been assured you have the rights to use the image. Seems simple, no?

All that said, Samsung hasn’t formally answered the complaint yet, so it will be interesting to see what it says when they do. Unless it can explain exactly how it has rights to use the photo at issue, I don’t see this getting a whole lot better for the company, especially because at least some of Dua Lipa’s claims allow her to shift her attorneys’ fees onto Samsung if she prevails, on top of the $15 million her suit is seeking.

But hey, I guess a multinational giant like Samsung can just shrug that off, too.