It’s the dispute of all disputes as high street store ‘Topshop’ have been ordered to pay the Barbarian singer’s legal bills.
The 26-year-old took the management of the branch to court in July last year after Topshop were selling T-shirts with the singers face on them.
A spokesperson for Rihanna described them as ‘unflattering to Rihanna’. Topshop also didn’t have permission from the photographer or have an official licence from Rihanna to sell the t-shirts.
The photograph used on the t-shirt was one taken whilst she filmed her number 1 track ‘we found love’ in a field in Belfast between March and August 2012.
Topshop and it’s parent company Arcadia argued their right not to pay Rihanna’s legal bill which comes in at around £919,000. They stated that 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 forced the brand to pay Rihanna.
Rihanna’s team argued that 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.The three appeal judges agreed with this statement and agreed with an earlier High Court ruling that marketing the fashion item without Rihanna’s approval amounts to ”passing off”.