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Talk about stealing samples! Topshop was slammed by a $5 million lawsuit by Rihanna for using her image to sell a t-shirt without her consent. A source told Page Six that, “Rihanna’s management asked Topshop a number of times to stop selling her image and were told, ‘We do what we want.’ They buy the pictures from a photographer, but they do not pay the artist licensing fees. Unfortunately, UK law does not protect the artist.”

The source continued, “What is most offensive for Rihanna is that they basically told her, ‘Go to hell. We don’t care; we are going to continue selling you.’ Topshop is now in the United States. They set up in Manhattan and Nordstrom, but they know better than to do this in the US because they would get in trouble.”

“Even though the UK laws don’t protect the artist, she has decided to move forward and sue Topshop. She has spent almost $1 million in litigation at this point. She says it’s the principle, and wants to make a statement about it. They are taking advantage of artists. It is just exploitation. What they are doing is wrong.”

Um, we can’t help but be on Team RiRi on this. The t-shirt bears her image and for Topshop to take advantage of a UK clause is very unfashionable of them. What do you guys think? Should Topshop pay up? Tell us in the comments section!

And check out Rihanna’s video for Stay here.

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