Passing off

Topshop’s sale of t-shirts with an image of Rihanna on it, without her approval, was an act of passing off. However, the mere sale by a trader of a t-shirt bearing an image of a famous person was not, without more, an act of passing off. The court further held that there was no such thing in England as a free standing general right by a famous person, or anyone else, to control the reproduction of their image.