Dua Lipa being sued for £100,000 over paparazzi photo shared on Instagram

Watch: Dua Lipa sued over paparazzi pic

Dua Lipa is being sued for more than £100,000 by a photo agency after allegedly sharing a paparazzi picture of herself on Instagram.

Integral Images claims that, because the 25-year-old singer-songwriter uses her social media page as a marketing tool, she profited from the use of their photograph.

Read more: Dua Lipa was UK's most-played artist in 2020

According to US court documents reported by the BBC, the agency is seeking a jury trial and $150,000 (£108,000) in damages.

The documents claim Lipa was pictured while in an airport queue in February 2019 and shared the photo — which is now not visible on her page — four days later with the caption: "I'll be living under big fluffy hats until further notice".

Integral Images claims Lipa used the photo "without permission or authorisation" when she shared it with her 69 million followers.

They further allege Lipa's Instagram presence is "monetised in that it contains content designed to accumulate followers who are directed to, via link and/or advertisement, consume and purchase [her] content".

Read more: Dua Lipa calls for NHS pay rise after Brit Awards victory

Lipa has won five Brit Awards for her music since breaking out with her self-titled first album in 2017, including British Album of the Year in 2021 for Future Nostalgia, which also won a Grammy.

She recently signed on for her first movie role, alongside Henry Cavill, Samuel L. Jackson and John Cena in the Matthew Vaughn-directed thriller Argylle.

Lipa is not the first celebrity to fall foul of a photo agency, with several other famous faces confronted with legal action after sharing pictures of themselves.

With many of these cases settled out of court or withdrawn, Forbes says this remains an "untested" area of law.

Read more: Dua Lipa upset after fans with LGBT+ flags removed from gig

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber settled copyright lawsuits with photographer Robert Barbera in 2019, while others who have faced complaints by photo agencies include Jennifer Lopez, Gigi Hadid and 50 Cent.

A representative for Dua Lipa has not yet responded to request for comment.

Watch: Dua Lipa lines up first movie role with Argylle