A model has sued Victoria’s Secret, claiming the company used too much of her face in an Instagram ad for perfume without permission and without additional compensation.
Sydney Roper, who has modeled for Peter Millar’s G/FORE golf apparel brand for about six years, alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal court in California Tuesday that Victoria’s Secret used her “recognizable likeness” in the ad “to attract consumer attention and promote purchases.”
Despite the company purchasing only an “unrecognizable parts-model appearance,” in which less than 30 percent of Roper’s face would be shown, about 95 percent of her face appeared in the ad, according to the lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
“These models are exploited and taken advantage of on a daily basis. They go up against these big companies. The models are afraid to take on the big companies because they don't want to be blacklisted,” Roper’s lawyer Perry C. Wander told The Independent.
“My client has been doing it for a long time, and she just doesn't let anyone take advantage of her anymore at this point in her career,” Wander continued. “So she was really adamant to pursue the case.”
When Roper’s agency demanded an extra $3,000, including a $500 agency fee, for using more of her face in the ad, Victoria’s Secret “did not respond, removed the linked advertisement, and offered no apology,” the lawsuit read.
“Taking an advertisement down does not pay the model for the use already made,” Roper’s legal team wrote in the complaint.
The Independent has reached out to Victoria’s Secret for comment.
The complaint stems from a perfume ad that was part of Victoria’s Secret Joyride campaign that rolled out this summer.
Roper’s agency agreed to a four-hour modeling shoot for the campaign on April 3 in exchange for $1,000 plus a 20 percent agency fee, according to the lawsuit.
A company representative allegedly confirmed to Roper’s agency in an email that “all will remain unrecognizable” and said that only part of her face, including her nose and lips, would be shown, along with her hands and an arm.
But, according to Roper’s estimate, about 95 percent of her face was allegedly shown in the ad. “Her visible eye, nose, lips, and facial features made her recognizable notwithstanding partial shadow,” the lawsuit read.
“My client discovered an Instagram post of the Victoria's Secret perfume video ad that was posted by Victoria's Secret, and it had her full face. She's pouring perfume on her chest, and you can see her full face,” Wander told The Independent. “The original contract was with a modeling agency that does just bits and parts of models, not a full face.”
Wander said a model showing her full face for a national or international perfume campaign could be paid tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We don't know if this was an inadvertent mistake or they decided to just publish the video of her full face, hoping that she either wouldn’t notice or would actually be excited that her whole face was in the ad,” the lawyer said.
Roper is now seeking “accountability for the unauthorized commercial use of her likeness and the breach of the negotiated restrictions,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit requests an unspecified amount of damages, profits attributable to the “unauthorized use” of Roper’s likeness and attorneys’ fees.
