Fashion Nova has been famously pending a series of infringement lawsuits; the since-settled copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit that Versace filed against her for allegedly selling “deliberate copies and imitations of [its] The most famous and well-known designs, marks, symbols and other protected elements, including the design of her “famous J.Lo dress”, for example, come to mind. But a new lawsuit by Fashion Nova changes the scenario, with the fast fashion giant accusing another Los Angeles-based fast fashion retailer of copyright infringement for taking product images from Fashion’s website Nova and their use on his site in order to compete with her well. – established competitor.
Setting the stage in the complaint it filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on August 29, Fashion Nova claims it has experienced “explosive growth since the launch of the e-commerce website in 2013″, with its internet” is now ranked[ing] as one of the most viewed fashion sites in the United States.” Through its “dynamic e-commerce site,” Fashion Nova says it “displays and sells a diverse range of apparel and lifestyle accessories for men, women and children, with approximately 200,000 different styles offered for sale, including more than 1,000 new styles per week and up to several hundred new styles per day, with price points generally within the $10-$50 range.
At the heart of its e-commerce site and related social media channels, Fashion Nova alleges in its newly filed lawsuit, are “visually appealing, striking photographic images and videos of [models] wearing or using [its] products – which serve to attract consumer interest and, ultimately, purchases of Fashion Nova products.”
In light of the success of its e-commerce-centric venture, Fashion Nova alleges that new rival Blush Mark “willfully and wrongfully stole [its] valid product images and is using them on its website to market and sell products that compete directly with the same Fashion Nova products depicted in those product images. Specifically, Fashion Nova points to eleven images for which it holds copyright registrations, for which it claims the nearly two-year-old Blush Mark “downloaded digital copies of from the Fashion Nova website,” removed the names of files from (in addition to an attempt to “hide [its] infringement of Fashion Nova’s copyright in and to product images owned and/or exclusively licensed by Fashion Nova”), and published on its site without Fashion Nova’s authorization.
Blush Mark “engaged in its violent uses of the images in question for the purposes of marketing, advertising, promoting, offering and selling products that directly compete with Fashion Nova’s products,” Fashion Nova alleges, “with the intent to obtain a unfair business advantage to Fashion Nova and avoiding the investment of time, money and resources that would otherwise be necessary to develop and create the image of its product.”
In view of the foregoing, Fashion Nova asserts a single claim for copyright infringement as well as infringement of copyright management information due to Blush Mark’s alleged removal of copyright management information of the author of Fashion Nova for the images of the product in question. The retailer seeks monetary damages, namely, “all damages suffered by Fashion Nova as a result of Blush Mark’s infringement of Fashion Nova’s copyright in and to the images, and all profits, profits and advantages realized by Blush Mark from said infringements,” along with relief enjoining Blush Mark from continuing to infringe its images and removing or changing the copyright management information associated with such images.
A copyright or competition case?
A reading between the lines suggests that there is more going on here than just a straightforward battle over copyright infringement; The case appears to focus more on the competition between the two ultra-fast fashion companies, with Fashion Nova claiming that Blush Mark’s infringement comes as the newer market entrant has been busy “following[ing] a business model that replicates Fashion Nova’s successful business model that has made Fashion Nova a leader in the ‘fast fashion’ industry, including offering “products that are the same and very similar to Fashion Nova’s products, aimed at the same customers, and sold at comparable prices.”
In short, Fashion Nova claims that “Blush Mark and its products compete directly with Fashion Nova.”
Fashion Nova has been accused in the past of trying to monopolize the market and maintain its place at the top of the fast fashion pole, and the company may feel threatened given that its competitive advantage rests largely on its ability to offered considerable amounts of fashionable fashion. clothing and accessories at low and low prices. After all, Blush Mark is offering at least some of the same products for even lower prices (it boasts that “its styles start as low as $5”) and is gaining increasing media attention and a growing number of Instagram and TikTok tags in the process. It’s worth noting that Fashion Nova’s products come from a collection of “hundreds of manufacturers … who are hired by intermediaries to produce clothing for fashion brands.” Given the lack of exclusivity at play in at least some of its supplier deals, those outfits can be purchased from other brands, like Blush Mark, which seems to be what’s happening here.
Since replicating the fast fashion business model (without going so far as to interfere with Fashion Nova’s existing contracts with retailers to increase its business, for example) does not give rise to an infringement action, Fashion Nova appears to be left with copyright infringement claims it has filed against Blush Mark as a means of weeding out its growing competition. The sweeping push toward ESG in fashion and the oft-reported trend among Gen-Z and millennial consumers for sustainably produced goods hasn’t put much of a dent in the global fast fashion market, which stood at 91.23 billion dollars by 2021.
A representative for Blush Mark was not immediately available to comment on Fashion Nova’s lawsuit.
The case is FASHION NOVA, LLC, v. Blush Mark, Inc., 2:22-cv-06127 (CDCal.)
