WHY ARIANA GRANDE SUED FOREVER 21?
After Forever 21 has been sued more than 50 times for allegedly stealing the work of other designers and passing it off as their own, it has once again by sued by pop superstar Ariana Grande for Trademark Infringement of 10 Million Dollar. In the Past, Forever 21 was accused of Copying from big brands like Anna Sui and Diane von Furstenberg to independent designers like Trovata, Foley + Corinna, and 3.1 Phillip Lim. But this is the first time where any artist has sued Forever 21 for using Lookalike to advertise the product.
According to the report, Ariana Grande was in talks with Forever 21 for the endorsement deal but the deal was not successful due to the insufficient budget. Instead of the negotiation, Forever 21 decide to Continue its ad campaign by hiring a look-alike model to play her part. Additionally, the 7 Rings audio is said to have played with the post which contained the lyrics of the song which would be misleading.
In the legal complained by Ariana, she mentioned control over the use of her name, image, likeness, and intellectual property in promoting third-party products and services is critical to safeguard her reputation, and to prevent the public from being misled into believing that she has associated herself with a product or service that she does not, in fact, endorse.
Ariana Grande has huge social media followers. As of now, She has more than 65 million Twitter and 163 million followers on Instagram. The Market Value of her single post is about in six figures. So she is highly popular.
Forever 21 is also popular brand which had 815 stores in 57 countries. Forever 21 is known for its trendy offerings and low pricing. The company has been involved in various controversies, ranging from labor practice issues to copyright infringement accusations to using unlicensed copies of Photoshop, AutoCAD and PaintShop Pro. For using unlicensed Copy of Software, the software developers Adobe, Autodesk and Corel filed a joint lawsuit against Forever 21 on 2015. So, the controversy is not new for the Company.
Ariana Grande’s case is being represented by Daniel Petrocelli at O’Melveny who seeks damages for copyright and trademark infringement, false endorsement and violating her right of publicity.
This is not the first time , A celebrity has sued Sued Company for using a look-alike model. In 2012, Kardashian filed $20 million lawsuit against The Gap over an Old Navy TV commercial. But that case was settled before any significant ruling.