Seeing celebrities in public places is simply a fan dream, and having the chance to get a selfie with them is a total bonus. However, one lady from Australia was sued by a company she once owned and now sold most of the shares to them because of her selfie with the beauty mogul.
The selfie of Linda Hammond, co-founder of sunglasses store Quay caused her a lawsuit from the British company Elevate Brandpartners because of a selfie with Kylie Jenner way back 2017. At that time, Jenner was set to endorse their products, as she graces their store to do some photoshoot.
The photo was shared on Hammond's Instagram account and based on the accusations, Elevate Jenner's team has threatened Brandpartners in regards to the said selfie. According to Elevate, when Hammond posted their photo the second time in May, it gave way to a lawsuit threat from Jenner's team because she is no longer endorsing their products.
But based on the judge's decision, the selfie was harmless as it did not instigate any action from Kylie Jenner, the fact that she was tagged on the said post. According to Justice Angus Stewart of Australia's Federal Court, the "Kylie Jenner Issue" stemmed out from a lot of issues between Linda Hammond, Quay and Elevate Brandpartners, as the former was already accused of so many when she opted to start her company, Dream Bandits.
Elevate Brandpartners previously accused Dream Bandits' products of improperly suggesting it that they were sponsored or associated with Quay. Quay also filed trademark and copyright charges against the couple, and they alleged they lured a Quay employee to their new company.
Linda Hammond, who co-founded the sunglasses store, Quay, is a popular brand used by celebrities like Beyonce and Lady Gaga. With only a nine-month deal with Kylie Jenner, the selfie brought upon a lot of disagreements between Hammond and Elevate, and although some have already been patched up, the selfie of Hammond and Jenner needs to be deleted.
However, Justice Stewart ruled out any violations on the part of Hammond as she uses the selfie as her belonging. Since the selfie was posted on her account, Hammond owned the photo, and it was taken with consent, as Kylie Jenner was even holding the camera or mobile.
According to the published judgment of Justice Stewart, "It's un-posed familiarity and informality would suggest that it was not intended to be anything more than a modern-day photographic equivalent of what was once an autograph." Linda Hammond and her husband are still shareholders of a stake in Quay. However, there were conflicts of interest when they started a new lingerie business this year called Dream Bandits.
