Tagging Kim Kardashian in an Instagram post could cost you big bucks – especially if you’re trying to sell outfits that are similar to those she has worn.
Fast fashion company Misguided recently received a judgment against it for some $USD 2.8 million for doing just that according to The Verge. Kardashian’s lawsuit alleged that Misguided traded on her “persona and trademarks” to sell clothes.
Disappointingly, we don’t have an actual judicial opinion to read here as the ruling was a default judgment in favor of Kardashian as MIsguided never responded to the lawsuit. That means that their use of Kim Kardashian as a hashtag was never litigated in this case.
To make her case, Kardashian’s counsel showed examples of how Misguided’s Instagram used pictures of Kim Kardashian and her outfits with some Instagram posts linking to purchasable clothes in a similar style.
You can check out The Verge's example by clicking here.
Her lawsuit read in part, “Missguided’s use of Plaintiffs’ marks is likely to cause consumers to mistakenly believe that Plaintiffs are associated with Missguided, or that they sponsor or endorse Missguided and its websites…And in fact, consumers have already expressed such confusion, suggesting in social media posts and online articles that Plaintiffs must be in a ‘collaboration’ with Missguided.”
As the complaint shows, the case was pretty complex when you consider it from a legal standpoint. Social media has changed the game in a lot of areas and there might be a case for saying that implicitly linking your product to a big name celeb like Kim Kardashian would result in higher sales. The Verge reports that it is unknown as to why Misguided did not respond to the lawsuit but perhaps something will be forthcoming in the future.
What do you think? Does Kim Kardashian have a point? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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