Kylie Jenner & Mother Plucker Feathers: Infringement of My Victoria's Secret Wing Designs
*Update 3/20/2020
The legal dispute between Kylie Jenner and I has been resolved. For clarification, we have never done business together and there are no plans to do so in the future.
*Update 12/26/2019
This dispute has been resolved between Mother Plucker Feathers and I.
It’s Infringement Mother Plucker! They copied my wings for Kylie Jenner's Fairy Halloween Costume!
Left: Eniko Mihalik in my original Kira wings for Victoria’s Secret, which they ordered from me directly and paid full price for (photo by Paul Bayfield / Timesniper Photography)
Right: Kylie Jenner wearing a knock of that same copyright registered design (photo by SPW)
Mother Plucker Feathers Co Inc. is taking credit for providing the fairy wings above (above right) to Kylie Jenner for a Halloween birthday party this last week, just after contacting me a couple weeks ago asking for my materials resources. This is an original design I drew from scratch, NOT a design from nature.
They even came to me last year, with the request to subcontract the same giant Morpho wings that I made for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2015’s Exotic Butterflies segment but in pink, sending my original product photo in the email. They were also for Kylie (I didn't know until after Halloween) but after extensive emails back & forth, apparently with requests from Jill Jacobs, Kylie’s stylist, changing the direction a few times, the whole thing fell through and Mother Plucker made a different set for her themselves without my involvement out of fabric.
I was told this celeb wanted my wings and loves my work last year when they contacted me, so they all seemed to be familiar with my designs.
I also sent them a lot of links to other designs in my web shop for examples of colors and such.
The question of access is no question at all.
Mother Plucker again came to me again a few weeks ago, asking for 3 sets of iridescent wings 'at a good price' with a tight deadline I couldn't meet.
They emailed later asking where to get the materials I use, so I directed them to my online tutorial, which ironically explicitly explains in the first 2 minutes how important it is to respect copyright (see video below) and not to use others’ existing designs. I was even promised that they would not copy my designs in their email.
That tutorial showed the creation of a very different design, wings from a real butterfly species by the way. So no, there is no implied permission granted to use any of my designs simply because I taught a technique.
Imagine my surprise when my fans and friends sent me links to Kylie Jenner’s photos in a copy of my Kira design - which I have the actual US Copyright certificate of registration for - when I had not been asked nor paid for the use of my design.
In fact, that design was worn by 2 different Victoria’s Secret Angels in their 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show’s ‘Fairytale’ segment. I had 3 other pieces in that show and a handful of them in 2015 as well.
You can see all the pieces I created for them here: https://www.fancyfairy.com/gallery-2-celebrity-fancy-fairies
People were commenting on Mother Plucker’s and Kylie's posts calling them out for copying it before I even found out about Kylie wearing the knock off wings, because they are one of my oldest and known works and many of my fans recognized the design.
Both mine and the knock off have the same basic vein design as my own.
Every vein has been included in the copy, even the little squiggly downward curve at the tip of the antennae.
Photo on left © Paul Bayfield * Photo on right is missing the copyright info.
Images used here for the purposes of fair use, commentary and public interest.
The outer shape is a little more loosely copied, but still follow the same silhouette as mine with minor differences in the length and skinniness of the tip along the top.
The vein design is what I registered with the copyright office.
Jill Jacobs (Kylie’s stylist I mentioned earlier) seems to be credited as the stylist again, Mother Plucker the 'designers' in charge of fabrication.
It’s not yet certain which part of this team is the most liable, but that will be determined more clearly as my IP attorney reviews this case.
In addition to these wings being seen all over the world on two Angels as well as viewed on my site through the years, that design is currently the first item you'll see when you click on the Shop page of my website! See for yourself below and here: https://www.fancyfairy.com/shop
It’s hard to believe this was an accident. Someone in that team had to know they were copying an existing design, no matter who they thought it belonged to.
Although that is a digital overlay item, my terms are crystal clear in the download that it is only meant to be used in photo editing / digital art, never to be redistributed as stand alone wings whether physical or digital, and not for commercial use. Just in case anyone tries that baseless argument.
I first published this design in 2007, as you can see in this screenshot from my old, gaudy website (below left) thanks to the Wayback Machine Internet Archive. It’s also been around in Second Life™ for just as long (below, right), tho thankfully I think my aesthetic has improved since then!
I’ve frequently spoken out about copyright infringement and how much it hurts artists, when it happens to me and when it happens to others.
So much in fact, my friends have nicknamed me “the copyright fairy”.
I’ve been infringed upon by a very large photo editing app company, a child millionaire, craft supply companies, 3D asset marketplaces and more.
Infringements hurt artists, even more so when it involved someone like Kylie Jenner, one of the most visible and wealthy celebrities in the world. Millions of people will see her in my design, but not the quality I usually set my standards to, mistakenly thinking it originated from a different artist.
Please, support independent artists whenever you can. So much of what is churned out by huge companies gets built on the backs of lesser known artists who can’t fight back.
You usually get higher quality pieces, helping us continue to create our art, and you’re helping us pay the bills in a world where the gap between the rich and the low income is bigger than ever and the cost of living grows ever higher.
A lot of people have been asking how to help, one way is to subscribe to my Patreon if you wish to help out monetarily. I only charge when I release content for my Patrons there and it starts at only $1. https://www.patreon.com/faeryangela
You can also purchase my affordable digital wing overlays, clip art and cut files to use in your photos and digital artwork - NOT to make wings out of except for the Piera Clearwing Satyr file because that is a real butterfly design, I hope we’ve all learned that lesson by now to actually read the Terms of Use: https://fancy-fairy-wings-things.myshopify.com/collections/all/digital
To sum it up, I’m shocked at this violation of both my IP and my trust.
Infringement sure is a Mother Plucker isn’t it?
*Edited 11/10 to clarify that my Kira Wings design is my original design, not from nature, and to correct some minor grammar for easier reading.