Rihanna vs. Topshop: Update

We previously reported here that the sale of t-shirts bearing an image of the pop star Rihanna, without her approval, by high street fashion retailer Topshop had been held by the English High Court in July to constitute passing off. The judgment was a milestone, as it was the first time that a celebrity had succeeded in the UK in a passing off case in relation to the use of his or her image on items of clothing.

Following on from that judgment, the High Court has now issued a permanent injunction that prohibits Topshop from any similarly unlawful use of Rihanna's image in the future. The court also ordered Topshop to pay Rihanna's £919,000 costs (subject to a reduction in respect of certain inadmissible pre-trial applications made by Rihanna), a sum which it admitted was "startling" in light of the original estimate of costs of around £308,000.