Dua Lipa Samsung Case, NewJeans Lawsuit, Taylor Swift Trademarks & More Top Music Law News

In this week's Legal Beat newsletter, Dua Lipa sues Samsung, NewJeans faces copyright claims, Taylor Swift fights a trademark lawsuit and much more.

May 13, 2026 - 17:16

Dua Lipa Samsung Case, NewJeans Lawsuit, Taylor Swift Trademarks & More Top Music Law News

THE BIG STORY: When Dua Lipa sued Samsung last week for using her image on TV boxes, it was almost confusingly straightforward.

Music stars are currently facing a complex array of deepfake videos and voice cloning on the modern internet, with no easy way to protect themselves. But this… wasn’t that. One of music’s top artists was claiming that a sophisticated company had simply plastered her face on millions of products for over a year — without approval, without outreach, and even after she asked them to stop.

How on earth does that happen? Well, a few days later, Samsung offered an unusually candid explanation, in which it said it had “great respect for Ms. Lipa and the intellectual property of all artists.” To find out what the company said, go read the full story here.

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Other top stories this week…

–NewJeans and their label partners ADOR and HYBE were sued in the U.S. over accusations that their hit 2024 track “How Sweet” infringed the copyright to an earlier demo song.

–Taylor Swift’s lawyers fired back at a trademark lawsuit over her album The Life of a Showgirl, arguing her accuser was just trying to “get the attention of Ms. Swift’s fandom for her own gain.”

-Speaking of Taylor and trademark law: Billboard’s Rachel Scharf dove deep on Swift’s many, many, many trademarks — from ‘Swiftie’ to ‘Taylor’s Version’ to names of her cats.

-Universal Music Group filed its appellate brief in Salt-N-Pepa’s bid to take back ownership of their master recordings, arguing that copyright law’s termination right is not absolute.

-Days after Ye (formerly Kanye West) took the witness stand to testify that “a lot of people try to take advantage of me,” a jury ordered him to pay six-figures in damages over an uncleared sample in an early version of the Grammy-winning song “Hurricane” from his chart-topping album Donda.

-An Atlanta man accused of stealing unreleased music by Beyoncé took a plea deal and pleaded guilty on the eve of trial in return for a lighter sentence of two years in prison.

–FKA Twigs was sued for trademark infringement by an indie band called The Twigs, two months after the star filed a preemptive case claiming the band was threatening to sue her.

-Maryland Gov. Wes Moore formally signed the Protecting Artists’ Creative Expression (PACE) Act, a new law that restricts when prosecutors can rely on rap lyrics as criminal evidence.

–Cardi B accused Tasha K of violating a gag order by publicly mocking her ex-husband Offset over his alleged gambling issues, the latest in a years-long battle with the gossip blogger.

–Jason Derulo won a jury verdict rejecting claims by session musician Matthew Spatola that he was owed writing and production credits on the 2020 chart-topper “Savage Love.”

–Daz Dillinger, a Death Row Records producer who collaborated with Tupac Shakur, claimed in a new lawsuit that the rap icon’s estate has stiffed him on royalties.

–Will Smith won a court order throwing out a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by an electric violinist who performed on his Based on a True Story tour last year.

–YNW Melly was once again denied release on bond as he awaits trial in Florida in a long-running double murder case — a decision his lawyers say deserves “disbelief and outrage.”