Page 12 - The Katten Kattwalk - Summer 2025 - Issue 29

Beige Battle: Social Media Influencers Settle Dispute
Over Minimalist Brand Identity (continued)
Sydney asserted that she first met Alyssa Sheil,
another influencer who promotes goods and apparel
on Amazon Storefront, Instagram and TikTok, “with
the intent of supporting one another’s business.” They
conducted a photoshoot together for the purpose of
posting on their respective accounts.
But shortly thereafter, according to Sydney,
Alyssa blocked Sydney from viewing her social
media content. It was then that Sydney apparently
discovered that Alyssa’s posted content began to
“replicate the neutral, beige, and cream aesthetic” of
Sydney’s “brand identity,” copied “the same modern,
minimal, and sophisticated styling and backdrop,” and
“featured the same or substantially Amazon products”
using “styling and textual captions replicating those of
[Sydney’s] posts.”
Exhibits from Plaintiffs’ Original Complaint against
Defendants
12 katten.com/fashionlaw
Sydney’s complaint included multiple examples
of posts made by Alyssa that mimicked and
allegedly infringed Sydney’s own copyrighted posts,
photographs and videos. For example, Sydney
compared a video of her visiting a retail store in
Austin during “Influencer Week” with a very similar
video that Alyssa posted about the same event, both
of which featured footage of the doormat at the
store’s entrance, a rack of clothing in the store, neon
light decor and footage of them receiving a cosmetic
treatment. Other comparisons included photo
slideshows in which first Sydney, and then Alyssa,
featured the title “my best amazon home purchases
of 2023” with a row of neutral-beige emojis above the
text, home office decor, a cream Nespresso machine
and rimmed glasses, a cream nonstick pan set and
other similar items.
Exhibits from Plaintiffs’ Original Complaint against
Defendants