The Interesting Legal Case of Influencer and Wedding Dress Designer, Hayley Paige
Picture from Klienfeld Bridal
For those of us who dream of wearing a wedding dress on our wedding day, you tend to start to follow famous wedding dress designers and shops nationwide to get some ideas about what your style might be.
That's how I stumbled upon renowned wedding dress designer Hayley Paige. Like many of her over 1.1 million Instagram followers (as of January 2021), I fell in love with the whimsical and romantic details she added to her gowns and her bubbly personality and positivity.
However, Hayley is currently fighting a unique battle in court with her former employer, JLM Couture, over the rights to her PERSONAL Instagram account and the use of her LEGAL name in ANY business endeavors. Yeah, read that again.
Here’s her personal account of what happened:
Hayley started working at JLM shortly after she launched her career. Admittedly in one of her IGTV videos describing the legal battle, she did not have a lawyer look at her contract before signing. Over the years, she has since amended the contract but came to a stalling point in recent negotiations. Rightfully so, Hayley was feeling that the current agreement was very one-sided and heavily favored JLM despite her growing popularity and the value she was bringing to the company. After added pressures of a tense working relationship with upper management, she felt that she wished to resign.
In retaliation, JLM and their attorneys passed court orders that took possession of her personal Instagram account and the use of her legal name in any business ventures. Was the control and ownership of her account and name in the fine print of any contract she signed? NO. The Instagram and other accounts associated with Hayley were made on her time and was not part of her direct job responsibilities. Yet, the courts still passed the restraining order for JLM to control her account and name, her livelihood.
Over the past few months, Hayley has resorted to using her dog's Instagram account, as well as her podcast's, to get the word out to people.
This is crazy, right?! You have a big ol' corporate company going after one of the designers that gave them their success, just because they're pissed their awful work environment and an unfair contract made her want to leave.
What's even crazier is that this case hasn't picked up the traction I feel it deserves. In this case, the decision will potentially shape future legal battles over creative assets and the ownership of social media accounts. As the digital age and social media begin to grow, it is even more necessary to have the rights of content creators and influencers protected.
For those of us in the social media industry, this is sure to be a case you'll want to follow. Hayley has been as transparent as possible (while still following legal counsel). She has even made public the motions she has filed in court to regain control of her accounts. She maintains that her goal is not to get back control of her accounts and the use of her name but to warn other creatives who could stumble into this issue.
Here is her advice to those that might find themselves in a similar position:
While her legal battle continues, you can follow her journey on @allthatglittersonthegram. Like many, I hope justice can be served in a case that seems as black and white as this one.