Rihanna wins legal battle against Topshop

Rihanna has won a longstanding case against Topshop after the fashion retailer was found to be selling t-shirts with an image of the singer.

The court of appeal agreed that in 2012 Topshop used a still image of Rihanna from her ‘Talk That Talk’ video shoots. An independent photographer who owned the copyright of the image licensed its use to Topshop, which led to legal action being taken over the product. Today marks the case being upheld after Arcadia - the parent group of Topshop - appealed on the initial decision in 2013.

The case ruling is one of the first of its kind to award a celebrity to control their public image in England. The three judges believe that the image created a sense that they were “passing off” the pop star. BBC’s Clive Coleman states that this was the first case to be deemed successful in such a complex trial.