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Indie makeup artist Vlada Haggerty is pressing charges.
Earlier we reported that Kylie Jenner was under scrutiny over plagiarizing makeup artist Vlada Haggerty’s work on a Kylie Cosmetics Holiday 2016 campaign. The campaign is startling similar and Haggerty was quick to point that out.
On Instagram the much-respected artist posted a side-by-side photo comparison and captioned it with: “Really @kyliecosmetics? Haven’t you gotten enough ‘inspiration’ from me already?”
Kylie’s been called out on stealing Haggerty’s work previously, having once posted an image in 2015 without giving due credit. She told Mashable then:
“The second I saw it I my heart dropped with excitement, up until the moment when I realized I wasn’t mentioned in any way on the post. Even after they edited the caption it still said ‘Inspo @vladamua #likitbylylie,’ I have no affiliation with the brand, I didn’t give them the permission to use my image. The most frustrating thing about this is that this lip look will be associated with Lip Kit By Kylie, it’s very recognizable and now I can’t use it for anything else.”
Now the makeup artist is taking action against her with a copyright infringement lawsuit. According to Coming to you on April 6, while Haggerty cannot “claim infringement based on the copying of her ideas” she does have a claim over derivative works.
Derivative works are works based on or derived using one or more preexisting works thus, Kylie’s alleged copying must “must contain sufficient new expression, over and above that embodied in the earlier work.” That’s because Haggerty’s own work is inspired by an iconic Guy Bourdin photo but it’s original enough that the integrity remains intact.
According to a statement by McArthur Law Firm, who will represent Haggerty:
“Vlada Haggerty is known for pioneering the dripping lip art style. This is the second time that Kylie Cosmetics has taken images without any acknowledgement and without the payment of a proper licensing fee, which amounts to copyright infringement. Additionally, Kylie Cosmetics sells its products under a logo that is so similar to the dripping lip art style that symbolizes Ms. Haggerty’s makeup artist brand that she receives daily inquires as to whether she is associated with Kylie Cosmetics. Due to Kylie Cosmetics’ repeated infringement and refusal to properly attribute or license, we plan to file a lawsuit early this week.”
What are your thoughts on the lawsuit?
