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What is Gifford asking for?
Gifford has reported Sheil to Meta, TikTok, and Amazon for copyright infringement and sent her a cease-and-desist letter, filing a lawsuit in April under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that sought up to $150,000 in damages for “mental anguish and lost income.” Gifford also wants Sheil’s online content taken down, which would deal the ultimate blow to the rival influencer (who currently has 138K followers on Instagram to Gifford’s 301K).
The “clean girl” aesthetic, which revolves around low-maintenance makeup and earth-toned neutrals, arguably entered the mainstream public discourse with Hailey Bieber (although many of its markers have roots in Black and brown communities), but apparently, it’s enough of a signature of Gifford’s to make her feel that a lawsuit was warranted. Sheil, of course, disagrees, telling the Verge: “There are hundreds of people with the exact same aesthetic, and I’m the only one that’s having to go through this.”
What kind of labor-law precedent is there for this case?
Not much, to be honest; Gifford’s lawsuit has frequently been referred to as “the first of its kind,” with the Verge’s Mia Sato noting the legally tricky nature of protecting influencer labor: “Although influencers are — naturally — influential, there remains a pervasive cultural stigma around their labor: influencers are seen as vapid, and their jobs are considered easy.” As a result, “the general public often has little sympathy for this group of workers, even though they are often exploited, and so they remain unprotected.”
