Makeup artist smacks her lips before copyright litigation

Ukrainian makeup artist Vlada Haggerty has filed a copyright infringement claim against American fashion retailer Guess at the US District Court in California. She has accused the clothing brand of using her artwork of lips on clothing without permission.

Haggerty is allegedly well-known for her works of lip art, which features close-up photographs of lips decorated with unique makeup designs. The makeup artist is the founder of Vladamua, a provider of high-quality makeup application and photography services, based in California. Her most popular works is a phot of liquid gold lip art which was published in 2015 on Instagram and is the subject of a copyright application.

In her claim, Haggerty has accused Guess of illegally and intentionally using this lip art by using the image on clothing such as t-shirts. Haggerty sent a notice of copyright infringement and demand letter in August 2018. Guess have since denied copying Haggerty's image, which had been published in a number of high profile beauty magazines including Teen Vogue..

Haggerty has asked for an injunction as well as statutory damages, actual damages for infringement, profits and legal costs.

Evidently, Haggerty is confident of protecting her work and is not scared to take on big brand names. In recent years, Haggerty has started disputes with Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy, and Kylie Jenner whom she also accused of copying her 'dripping' lip imagery.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com