Energy drink manufacturer, Alani Nutrition LLC, have sued competitor, Ryse Up Sports Nutrition LLC, for alleged copyright infringement relating to an advertisement featuring brand ambassador and American media personality, Kim Kardashian.
Back in July, Kim Kardashian posted to her social media page, in collaboration with Alani Nutrition, a photo depicting Kardashian in a white bathing suit surrounded by gym equipment to launch a new limited-edition energy drink, “Kimade”. The post garnered over 2 million likes in a matter of days.
In a filing with the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Alani Nutrition argued that following Kardashian’s collaborative post, Ryse Up Sports Nutrition recreated a strikingly similar image with their own ambassador and social media influencer, Paige Hathaway, to market their own competing energy drink. In documents filed with the court, Alani Nutrition claim “both images incorporate, amongst other similarities, a blonde woman, dressed in a white bathing-suit, with white heels, posing next to metal gym equipment, and pink-[coloured] energy drinks in a pink [coloured] gym”.
Many users were quick to point out similarities between the posts on Instagram after Hathaway shared it with her 3.6 million followers, with one user commenting on the post “rip off of @alaninutrition collab with Kim K”. The post has since been removed from Instagram following a formal takedown request submitted by Alani Nutrition.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
