Topshop ordered to cough up £1.5m legal costs over failed Rihanna T-shirt ban appeal
High Street fashion retailer Topshop is facing a hefty legal bill amounting to £1.5m after it lost an appeal against a ban on it selling T-shirts imprinted with an image of the star's face.
Last month the chain’s parent firm, Arcadia Group, lost an appeal against a July 2013 High Court ruling which banned it from depicting the star’s image on clothing without consent. Arcadia owner Sir Philip Green subsequently appealed against paying Rihanna’s legal costs of £919k but this too has now been refused – plus additional costs relating to the appeal.
Rihanna’s extravagant legal bill riled Green as his own costs came in at just £350k, prompting the judge to describe the bill as ‘startling’. Nevertheless three appeal court judges decreed that ‘the appeal on costs must be dismissed.’
The financial pain heaped on Topshop looks set to continue with the British R&B star demanding a further £3.5m in damages and profits made through sales of the clothing line, which featured an image taken from a music video without permission.
A total of 12,000 of the garments were produced, initially retailing at £22 a piece before being reduced to a fiver to clear stock.