Dua Lipa sues Samsung for £11m after her image is used on box
Dua Lipa’s filing of a $15 million (£11 million) lawsuit against Samsung for using her image on its TV packaging without her permission has raised eyebrows among London’s learned friends. What was the electronics giant thinking? The firm left itself wide open to a legal action in the notoriously litigious US.
Lipa’s people claim she owns the copyright to the picture. It is also alleged Samsung ignored demands to “cease and desist from infringing on her rights” — making their defence look even trickier.
What next for British Steel after renationalisation?
Legislation will be brought forward this week to enable the Government to secure full public ownership of British Steel. The Prime Minister made the announcement after talks broke down with its Chinese owner, Jingye.
Ministers were concerned that the main Jingye site at Scunthorpe was facing closure and they had been unable to force the company to make a commercial sale. The move will be popular with the unions and Labour backbenches who will see it as preserving jobs, for now at any rate.
The long-term future of British Steel must be open to doubt, however. Without significant investment, it is hard to see how the steel producer can survive and prosper. Government money is in short supply and efforts to find a buyer may have to be redoubled. It is not at all clear who that purchaser would be. A totemic industrial name has been saved, but no one is celebrating.
Airlines slash prices to lure worried holidaymakers
Anxious days lie ahead for those in the holiday industry. Airlines are cutting prices to entice travellers to put aside fuel shortage worries and book Mediterranean breaks. The evidence suggests they are delaying, waiting to see what unfolds with the Iran war. Meanwhile, interest in stay-at-home breaks is rising — although this is not yet matched by firm bookings. There is time for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen before holidaymakers must decide between Med sunshine or a UK gamble.
Huge payout looms in fraud office case
The court hearing continues this week in the Kazakh miner ENRC versus law firm Dechert and the Serious Fraud Office litigation. The long-running battle centres on a criminal investigation by the SFO into ENRC, the former FTSE100 company now part of the Luxembourg-based Eurasian Resources Group. The SFO probe lasted a decade before collapsing. ENRC used to be advised by Dechert. ENRC has previously claimed successfully, that the SFO relied on evidence improperly obtained by Dechert. All that remains to be decided is the level of compensation due to ENRC for reputational damage and legal costs. Here, there is a twist. It was thought the bill would be for $165m but with interest added, the final total being sought is $265m. This is a worrying development for the SFO which has an annual budget of just £88.9m or $120.5m. Dechert’s portion presumably will be covered by legal insurance, but not the SFO’s.
