Page 11 - The Katten Kattwalk - Summer 2025 - Issue 29
P. 11
By David Halberstadter
n May 28, two “frenemy” social media causes of action arising from the same pattern of
influencers informed a federal court in purportedly wrongful conduct. Sydney Nicole LLC et
Texas that they had settled a lawsuit in al. v. Alyssa Sheil LLC et al., Case No. 24-cv-00423-RP.
Owhich one of them accused the other of According to her complaint, Sydney is an influencer
infringing on her copyrighted social media posts on who has attracted over half a million followers
Instagram and TikTok, where they both promoted across various online and social media platforms,
similar products available on Amazon. For now, this including Amazon Storefront, Instagram and TikTok.
put an end to the question of whether it was possible Sydney claims to have devoted hundreds of hours to
for one person to copyright a beige “aesthetic” or a establishing her unique brand identity and becoming
social media “vibe” and for another to impermissibly well-known for promoting household goods, apparel
infringe by copying it. and accessories from Amazon through original
photographs and video works that she created. In
Sydney Nicole Gifford and her company sued Alyssa
Sheil and her company in April 2024 in the US Court particular, Sydney laid claim to a “neutral, beige, and
cream aesthetic,” which she alleged was the essential
for the Western District of Texas, alleging multiple
characteristic of her “brand identity.”
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