NIPC Law

Topshop, Leeds Photo Wikipedia In  Fenty and Others v Arcadia Group Brands Ltd and another     [2013] EWHC 2310 (Ch), [2013] WLR(D) 310 Mr Justice Birss gave judgment to Robyn Rihanna Fenty (better known as Rihanna ) and her corporate licensing companies against Top Shop for selling a t-shirt that reproduced a photo of the singer. The claim was brought not for infringement of copyright since the owner of the copyright in the photograph had licensed the reproduction of his work but for passing off. Rihanna and her companies had claimed that the t-shirt misrepresented authorization or approval of the manufacture and distribution of the garments and that such misrepresentation damaged her commercial activities. I wrote about the case in Passing off - Fenty v Topshop   10 Sept 2013 and readers are referred  to that note for an appreciation of the judgment. A lot of people were surprised by Mr Justice Birss's decision including me t...

Topshop, Oxford Circus   Source Wikipedia Mr. Justice Birss summarized the issues in  Fenty and Others v Arcadia Group Brands Ltd (t/a Topshop) and Another  [2013] EWHC 2310 (Ch), [2013] WLR(D) 310 admirably in paragraph [1] of his judgment in that case: "Topshop is a well known fashion retailer. Rihanna is a famous pop star. In March 2012 Topshop started selling a t-shirt with an image of Rihanna on it. The image was a photograph taken by an independent photographer. Topshop had a licence from the photographer but no licence from Rihanna. Rihanna contends that the sale of this t-shirt without her permission infringes her rights. Topshop does not agree. This action is the result." In the next paragraph his lordship stressed that this case was not concerned with so called "image rights": "Whatever may be the position elsewhere in the world, and how ever much various celebrities may wish there were, the...