Influencer Sues Rival She Says Copied Her

Amazon influencers are battling it out in court
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2024 3:35 PM CST
2 Beige-Loving Influencers Battle It Out in Court
File photo.   (Getty Images / ULTRA F)

It's a case that, per the Verge, was "a long time coming": One influencer is suing another, alleging copyright infringement and more. Alyssa Sheil and Sydney Nicole Gifford (who now sometimes goes by Sydney Nicole Slone after getting married) met each other a few years back, both of them young Amazon influencers (Sheil is now 21, Gifford 24) who lived in Austin, Texas. While a lasting friendship did not come out of those meetings, a rivalry apparently did: Both women hawk Amazon merchandise that falls into the "beige, neutral, minimalistic" category, and months after their last meeting in early 2023, Gifford says followers alerted her that Sheil's content seemed to be copying Gifford's. Gifford says Sheil often posted about the same products she'd posted about days or weeks before, often using similar photo poses or video framing.

She is also suing for misappropriation of another person's likeness, claiming Sheil even changed her hairstyle in an attempt to look more like Gifford—a claim made particularly complicated, Sheil says, by the fact that Sheil is a Black Latina woman while Gifford identifies as a white Hispanic. The full piece delves into the Amazon influencer program (which, not surprisingly, pushes many specific products to its participants) and influencer culture in general. This lawsuit could have wide-ranging implications for that culture, given the current lack of regulations governing it. But Sheil says the whole thing is groundless: "There are hundreds of people with the exact same aesthetic, and I'm the only one that's having to go through this." Read the full story at the Verge. (More influencer stories.)

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