An influencer is suing another influencer for copying her aesthetic. Can she win?

+ Bailing people out of jail for clout, Jojo Siwa goes rogue, Harry Potter-themed chatbot 9/11, and what exactly is a khia

A couple months ago, I wrote about two fashion and lifestyle influencers who have been locked in a contentious court battle that could set a major legal precedent for protecting creators' online content.

To recap: TikTok content creator Sydney Nicole Gifford, 24, claims that another TikToker, Alyssa Sheil, 21, copied her “neutral, beige and cream aesthetic”, used the same fonts and camera angles as her, decorated her apartment like her, got a similar haircut, and featured similar Amazon products on her social media pages, according to a recent lawsuit.

Gifford claims that Sheil basically copied her entire online vibe after the two initially met up to shoot photos and discuss a potential collaboration.

After the meeting, Sheil allegedly blocked Gifford on TikTok and Instagram and began posting content that matched Gifford’s look and feel, sometimes posting content that was almost identical to hers. (I highly suggest scrolling through the full complaint here for side by side comparisons.)

Gifford reported Sheil to Meta, TikTok, and Amazon, for copyright infringement and sent her a cease-and-desist letter.

In April, she filed a lawsuit under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which protects copyright holders from online theft. Gifford copyrighted each video on her social media pages so that she could prove ownership of her original content.

Now, Gifford is seeking up to $150,000 in damages for "mental anguish” and lost income. She’s also seeking to have Sheil’s content taken down. Gifford argues that Sheil “infringed upon her ‘trade dress,’ which is the overall look and feel that distinguishes a specific brand from others,” Bloomberg Law, reported.

The case is a fascinating case study that could have massive downstream effects. Most legal experts I spoke to said that they doubt Gifford will win (a “neutral, beige and cream aesthetic” is hardly unique!). But, if she does, it could have lasting ramifications on how influencers protect their content.

DMCA takedown notices are the bane of every creator’s existence. But, most creators only receive them if they’ve directly used someone else’s content (such as a hit pop song or movie clip) without permission. Copying someone’s aesthetic seems like a much lower bar.

Creators recreate each others ideas and videos all the time, but big creators seem to be getting increasingly annoyed with the practice. Top YouTuber MrBeast recently spoke about dealing with copycats in an interview with YouTuber Jon Youshaei, saying that other creators had tried to copy his viral hotel video by visiting the same exact hotels, and even replicating his exact language, cadence, text overlays, and video editing style.

Still, similarities are inevitable online, where niche fashion trends can spread like wildfire and multiple influencers are often contracted to paid to promote the same products. Just this month, a judge ruled that Gifford’s case could move forward.

Mia Sato at The Verge went to Texas to speak with the influencers involved in the lawsuit. Her piece explores whether the legal system can “protect the vibe of a creator” and what the case says about the broader state of the influencer industry.

Sato writes, “Both Sheil and Gifford are young women who’ve made careers on the backs of digital overload, acting as personal shoppers to millions of strangers. They’re so good at their jobs that they just bought homes. Sheil has two cats and Gifford, two dogs. At times, these relatively ordinary parallels between the two are what strike me the most: it’s like meeting someone else in the same audience segment that advertisers use to send you targeted ads. I suppose I might be a little freaked out by my digital doppelganger, too.”

I really can’t suggest reading the full piece more, it’s a great Thanksgiving longread.

The journalist in queer media who went viral for her ‘Wicked’ interview speaks

Tracy E. Gilchrist, the queer media journalist whose interview with “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo during a press junket went viral, gave an interview to Variety.

Gilchrist's comment about the lyrics to "Defying Gravity,” — "people are taking the lyrics... and really holding space with that" — quickly became a meme and she’s now getting recognized in public.

Gilchrist told Variety that what she meant by “holding space” was, “For me, it means being in the moment, not being distracted and feeling something on a cellular level. I think you can hold space with lyrics of a song – one you’ve heard hundreds of times – and it can suddenly take on new meaning when you’re a queer person. The Trump administration is targeting LGBTQ+ people via Project 2025. When Cynthia sings ‘I’m through accepting limits,’ there’s power in that. She plays a character who is othered. One who comes to her full power when she is exiled by a charlatan, by a cruel leader. There’s a lot of resonance there right now for anyone who is marginalized. For me, holding space is listening to those lyrics anew and finding solace or inspiration.”

She said that her friends are trying to get her to launch a merch store since so much counterfeit merch is being sold already, and she hopes the moment might lead to a podcast. Read the full interview here.

More fun stuff

Chatbot platform Character.AI is mass-removing "Harry Potter"-themed AI chatbots from its platform causing a meltdown among fans.

Is custom clothing making a comeback?

The Cut investigates, what exactly a “khia” is (a popular slang term on stan Twitter). TLDR “A khia is a pop girl who people talk about, but who no one seems to care about culturally.”

This story about a business school scandal and academic fraud is wild.

Stake, an online casino, is using watermarks on viral meme accounts to advertise and it’s become so pervasive that it’s a meme.

An influencer has started bailing people out of jail and putting them on a party bus for content.

The Hawk Tuah girl is launching a meme coin.

Meanwhile,

kate lindsay

at Embedded interviewed the Tawk Tuah superfans.

Coffee with Matt Starr, a poet, publisher, promoter and Paddington Bear super fan.

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