A Designer Contract: Hedi Slimane Prevails In A Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Saint Laurent

*** The writing does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice by any means***

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Saint Laurent Pre-Fall 2013 Campaign
Freja Beha Erichsen by Hedi Slimane

Hedi Slimane courts an army of enthusiastic fans around the globe since his tenure at Dior Homme. His skinny jeans were surely a mega-hit. Apart from his unique aesthetics characterized by what I would label as "the rebellious grungy youth", Hedi Slimane is an established photographer himself. While taking the creative helm of Saint Laurent between 2012 and 2016, he shot black-and-white advertising campaigns featuring the likes of Abbey Lee Kershaw and Freja Beha Erichsen (pictured above). Photographers have almost always enjoyed strong copyright protections ever since the landmark Sarony case. In Sarony, Justice Miller emphatically stated that a photograph is an original work of art, "the product of [its photographer's] intellectual invention". Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U.S. 53, 60 (1884). So here comes another case that confirms that long tradition. After leaving Saint Laurent as its creative director, Hedi Slimane found out that the Parisien brand continued to use his images without obtaining his consent, so he sued his former employer.

According to Bloomberg, the Court of Appeals of Paris awarded a sum of near $700,000 to Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent's infringing use of his photographic works produced during his employment. Some may ask me the following question: Didn't you say that there is something called the work-made-for-hire doctrine? Yes. In fact, France has its analogue, too. Now, assuming for the sake of argument that this trial took place in the U.S., I believe that a clever designer-cum-photographer like Hedi Slimane contracted around to make sure that copyright subsists in him in perpetuity. Otherwise, inferentially speaking, he would not have had an actionable infringement claim in the first place. 

Taking a step back, fashion watchers may have witnessed now and then that, once a high-profile creative director parts ways with a brand, the brand subsequently wipes out the existing archival imagery on Instagram. Yes, it could be a way of signaling a fresh start, putting a punctuation mark between the past and the future in a metaphorical sense. However, now that I read this case, it could equally well be the case that it is a means to prospectively get rid of potential copyright issues. Of course, people can't get access to the contract between Hedi Slimane and Saint Laurent because of its confidential nature, but, if a lesson is to be learned, it is that licensing matters a lot in fashion. Maybe, Hedi Slimane was adamant in conditioning his employment on a provision that would allow him not to assign away his image rights. Who knows? Also, Saint Laurent could have avoided this legal mess had it just obtained the necessary consent. In any case, Hedi Slimane can now finally bid a farewell to Kering.