Chris Benz's Spring 2012 Line
/I have been fighting an infringement of my work since July and it is time to share my story. Fashion designer Chris Benz used my Loads of Ranunculus photograph without my permission and without compensation on his Spring 2012 line. This post is long, but it's full of important information.
Let's begin with this video interview of Chris Benz when he premiered his Spring 2012 line at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) in September 2011.
Hmmm. Now let's look at Chris Benz's Spring 2012 Lookbook.
Hmmm. Let's look at some stills from NYFW when he launched the Spring 2012 line.
photograph ©
, used with permission
shoe collaboration with
Hmmm. Let's look at
a collaboration he did
with Lancome.
If you spent $75 with
, you got a Chris Benz tote bag.
I bought one on eBay and my lawyers in NYC now have it for evidence.
This is an ad on
promoting the tote bag,
with my photograph as the background.
This is an ad on
Saks Fifth Avenue's Facebook page
. They also used my photograph.
Saks was the exclusive host of the Lancome tote bag giveaway.
Hmmm. Let's look at a screenshot of my original EXIF data that shows when I took the
photograph.
Hmmm. Let's look at my photograph!
Loads of Ranunculus
© Jessica Nichols
You can view the
Loads of Ranunculus
photograph
. With more than 10,000 views, it is my most popular photograph. I also shared it
on April 6, 2011 for Poppytalk's Colour Week. Jan from Poppytalk featured my photo as
and later in the year, she included it on her list of
for 2011.
Hmmm. Let's look at Chris Benz on the red carpet.
photograph © BFAnyc.com, seen on
Since July 2012, I have been working with my lawyers to fight this unauthorized use of my Loads of Ranunculus photograph. Chris Benz has officially stated the following to me via our lawyers:
He “gathered inspiration” for his design from sources on the internet, flower shops and street vendors, and while he “is not prepared to say that he absolutely never saw your client’s photograph,” he denies that he copied or manipulated it. In addition, he “respectfully denies” that the fabric is “substantially similar” to my photograph and therefore there is no infringement.
UPDATE, 11/16
: I've uploaded the QuickTime video that shows
how my photograph was used in the fabric
UPDATE, 11/16
: A commenter named Kiki The Wonder Mule made this gif file and shared it on the
post yesterday about my story.
UPDATES, 11/19
: My story was featured on
on 11/16/12! It was also posted to
and I would appreciate any votes there to move it up.
I believe the photographs speak for themselves about how substantially similar his fabric is to my photograph. My entire photograph is in the fabric!
If you want to read more, here are some links:
A
showing results for "Chris Benz Spring 2012 line."
An interview regarding the Chris Benz Spring 2012 line on
magazine.
An
magazine post about the Lancome tote bag collaboration.
Another interview about the Chris Benz Spring 2012 line on
More photos from Nicolette Mason in her
about Chris Benz's Spring 2012 line.
Chris Benz
on Style.com.
The sneakers were featured on
Here is an extremely ironic post on
about how someone infringed on one of Chris Benz's shoe designs.
Let's hear Chris Benz talk to
about how it feels to be adored by the fashion media:
“When I asked him how he feels about being adored by the fashion media, he just said, "It's good. I always say that when you work so hard at something and put your heart into things, and people's expectations are fulfilled in some way, it's such a nice thing."
—Rebecca Suhrawardi Austin (for Elle)
Come on
, it is way past time to step up and take responsibility for using my photograph without my permission and without compensation! I know it was exciting for you last week when you
wearing one of your skirts on election night, but please take a Twitter break and get in touch with my lawyers.
If you want to help me fight this case, please share the story and/or support my
and my
iPhone case shop on Big Cartel
. Every single sale helps me.