Diesel sued by L.A. artist for copyright infringement

Italian streetwear giant Diesel is being sued by a Los Angeles-based artist for a campaign it released with photographer Terry Richardson.

The artist, Haleigh Nickerson, filed a copyright lawsuit alleging Diesel used one of her works for an advertisement.

The complaint states: “The unauthorized image, blatantly a derivative image and reproduction of plaintiff’s Sista Soulja photograph in issue … appeared as an advertisement for Diesel on at least one billboard in Milan, London and Tokyo,” the complaint said. “Additionally, the photograph appeared in dozens of e-publications and multiple videos that continue to be published on the internet to this day, including on Diesel’s own website and on Diesel’s YouTube channel.”

According to Law360, some of the common features between the two images include women of colour posing in clothing with similar colours in front of a similar background. Even the name of the allegedly infringing work was “Sister siren,” versus the artist’s Sista Soulja.

“Copying works from Black artists without authorization in lieu of paying for a license and meanwhile promoting a progressive corporate facade for PR purposes must stop,” Deepak Gupta of Farella Braun & Martel LLP, an attorney for Nickerson, said in a statement to Law360.

The case is Haleigh Nickerson v. Diesel USA Inc. et al., case number 3:20-cv-07775, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Image via Diesel Facebook; Article source: Law360