LOS ANGELES – A Florida woman claims Forever 21 unlawfully used a photograph she posted on Instagram for advertising purposes.
Vanessa Boy filed a complaint on March 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Forever 21 and Does 1 through 10 alleging copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that she posted a photograph to Instagram in September 2016 and applied for a copyright in October 2016. The suit states the defendant contacted her to license to use the photo, which she agreed to as long as it was a repost and that she was given credit.
The plaintiff holds Forever 21 Inc. and Does 1-10 responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to fulfill its promise to acknowledge plaintiff's ownership to a copyrighted photograph, modified the subject photograph, failed to either tag or give credit to plaintiff, and then used the modified photograph on Instagram and its website as a click-through advertisement.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendants, award all profits, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, interest, costs of action, and further relief as the court deems proper. She is represented by Stephen M. Doniger, Scott A. Burroughs and Howard S. Han of Doniger/Burroughs in Venice.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 2:17-cv-01879