Today the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Fenty v Arcadia Group Brands Limited [2015] EWCA Civ 3. The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of Mr Justice Birss below that the sale by Tophop of a t-shirt featuring a photograph of Rihanna amounted to passing off. In doing so, the Court of Appeal confirmed that passing off includes this type of act. Celebrities can protect their image if they can show they have the relevant goodwill and that the goods or services featuring their image are likely to deceive members of the public into believing that they are in some way connected with the celebrity. Whether or not this is the case will depend on all of the circumstances of the case.
