We’ve often heard of big companies suing a smaller entity with copyright claims if the former feels as if the latter is encroaching on their brand image. But now, the situation is that an influencer is suing another influencer because her ‘aesthetic’ is being copied.
Influencer Sued Another Influencer?
The case first came to my light after seeing a reel by Instagram user @yourinstalawyer.
Sydney Nicole Gifford, a 24-year-old influencer from Texas, USA has in a first-of-its-kind, filed a lawsuit against 21-year-old Alyssa Sheil, accusing her of duplicating her “neutral, beige and cream aesthetics” and “featured the same or substantially [similar ] Amazon products promoted” by Gifford.
Gifford also claimed that Sheil was infringing on her distinct brand which is “promotion of products only falling within the monochrome cream, grey, and neutral-beige color scheme; styling of products in modern, minimal backdrops.”
The lawsuit also claims that Sheil copied her TikTok, Instagram, and Amazon Storefront posts, mimicked her text, and more.
According to the court papers, the two women met in December 2022 in Austin “with the intent of supporting one another’s business.” But apparently, Sheil blocked Gifford from her social media accounts soon after they had a joint photoshoot in January 2023.
As per Gifford, Sheil started copying her content after that point with the court papers claiming that around 30 posts from Sheil’s content had “identical styling, tone, camera angle and/or text,” to Gifford’s with Sheil even posting “nearly identical videos.”
The almost 70-page-long lawsuit has side-by-side comparisons of Gifford and Sheil’s posts to show how the latter is duplicating the former’s content.
Among the evidence of Sheil doing copyright infringement, the court papers reveal how Sheil uploaded a video very similar to Gifford’s where she is visiting an Austin, Texas, shop, The Tox, in October. Sheil also posted a slideshow of Amazon home products very identical to the one Gifford posted two days earlier.
Gifford’s legal team also sent multiple cease and desist letters to Sheil and the lawsuit was eventually submitted in April after Sheil did not stop.
Gifford’s lawyer, Kirsten Kumar commented, “Ms. Gifford’s goal is to protect her work from being infringed upon by an imitator. This case is significant because it asks the court to apply longstanding principles of the law to modern day challenges surrounding online content creation.”
Gifford has reportedly made eight claims and filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) lawsuit. She now seeks between $30,000 to $150,000 in damages for “mental anguish” and loss of income that she sustained due to Sheil’s actions that led to her losing followers, traffic, and sales commissions.
Read More: This Is Why It’s The Best Time To Be An Influencer In India
However, Sheil’s lawyer Jason McManis denies the allegations and stated, “These are two influencers who live in the same area being asked to promote many of the same products and storefronts. When a store asks multiple influencers to promote it, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that some posts may look the same. That doesn’t make it infringement or misappropriation.”
The Copyright Problems
The issue of copyright for digital content creators is getting increasingly complicated. With the space only expanding and becoming even more of a serious profession for many, it is high time that the legal structures be modified to include issues related to it.
A recent Mint report even touched upon how copyright infringement is becoming a cause of revenue loss for many social media influencers.
Earlier news of copyright infringement was usually about a big company putting a strike on videos by content creators who would be using clips or music from them. However, now the space is changing and the battle is content creator vs content creator.
The Mint report revealed how a YouTuber called Samay Raina with 5.4 million had some of the exclusive content that he had uploaded behind a paywall re-uploaded by some users for free on YouTube and other platforms.
Raina speaking with Min at a virtual YouTube press conference on 5 December, said, “I was trying to set up a revenue stream by uploading this content exclusively for members-only, so people re-uploading it is definitely a problem I face.”
He further added, “On YouTube, getting this content taken down is comparatively easier than other platforms using copyright strikes, as far as I am able to spot it. On other websites, it is quite difficult to get the content removed, and it leads to loss of revenue.”
This is a growing problem with channels that focus solely on re-uploading content of others, fan accounts, duplicate content channels that act as an aggregator making compilations of various videos into a single one, or entirely re-uploading videos from other channels onto their own, often without any credit to the original creators.
This can lead to revenue loss and split the viewership that should ideally be going to the original creator.
While legal experts stress that legal recourse should be taken in such instances, however, the hassle of such a process that is not just time-consuming but also very expensive and might not even result in the desired verdict might put people off from doing so.
A macro creator speaking anonymously with Mint said, “If we can simply make a copyright strike in 30 seconds at the comfort of our home, why would we go to court for this. Also, there is not just one but multiple such infringements on so many content pieces that we make, how many cases can we fight?”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: NBC News, Bloomberg Law News, Livemint
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Influencer, Influencer lawsuit, Influencer copyright, Influencer copyright vibe, Influencer aesthetic, Influencer copyright aesthetic, Sydney Nicole, Sydney Nicole gifford, Sydney Nicole gifford lawsuit, Sydney Nicole amazon, Sydney Nicole gifford amazon, Alyssa Sheil, Alyssa Sheil instagram
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
Other Recommendations:
Investigative Report On Influencer Jay Shetty Reveals Plagiarism, Shady Credentials
