Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Kanye and Pharrell are all suing ElevenParis


Rihanna and Beyonce pictured together at the 2014 Met Gala
Rihanna and Beyonce pictured together at the 2014 Met Gala Credit: Rex
Parisian brand ElevenParis is preparing itself for a very high-profile lawsuit – it has just been jointly sued by five of the world’s biggest musical acts: Beyoncé, Jay Z, Rihanna, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.
In a complaint filed at the federal court in New York on Tuesday, the plaintiffs claim the brand has been “brazenly” selling merchandise including T-shirts, hats and phone cases featuring their likenesses without permission. This includes clothing bearing the singers’ faces, phrases such as "Kanye is my Homie" and "Pharrell is my Brotha," and Beyonce and Rihanna song lyrics, reports Reuters.
The brand is said to have ignored repeated warnings from the musicians to cease sales in store and on its website - though the offending products no longer appear to be available online.
The filed complaint calls ElevenParis "habitual, wilful intellectual property infringers that, without authorization, usurp the trademarks, copyrights and other rights of A-list celebrities."
Its actions, says the complaint, “have caused and are causing immediate irreparable harm" to the five famous figures concerned, all of whom have their own clothing lines and collaborations. They are seeking to recoup profits and triple damages over the allegations of trademark infringement and violations of their rights of publicity.
Rihanna is creative director of the Puma sports brand and has previously designed for River Island; Pharrell has his own label, Billionaire Boys Club, as well as high-profile collaborations with Adidas and Uniqlo; Beyoncé is about to unveil an ‘athleisure’ brand in collaboration with Topshop; her husband Jay Z is the co-founder of urbanwear brand Rocawear and Kanye West is the creative director of his own line, Yeezy, as well as an Adidas collaborator.
In a statement, ElevenParis said that negotiations had been underway with the famous five for nearly a year and were continuing. "ElevenParis is determined to find a fair and balanced agreement with them and their advisers," it said.
It is the second time Rihanna, 27, has taken a retailer to task over the misuse of her likeness. In 2014, the High Court found Topshop guilty of using her image unlawfully on a T-shirt and ordered parent company Arcadia to pay her a rumoured multi-million-pound settlement, as well as cover her legal costs, in a landmark ruling on celebrity image rights.

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