Copycat-eye? Copyright protection in the beauty industry

Over the past couple of years there have been several important conversations regarding intellectual property issues in the beauty industry. This industry faces a persistent issue of copycat beauty looks that are not credited to the original inspiration. For example, earlier this year Instagram account Diet Prada called out two editorial beauty looks worn by Rihanna in a magazine, arguing that the two makeup artists and creative teams had ripped off looks from their peers. Diet Prada commented that in its opinion, Rihanna’s silver glitter coated lids, lips and tongue were directly copied from a 2014 design by another artist for a 2018 Allure magazine story. Two years prior, Snapchat made headlines when it released a new batch of face-altering filters that seemed to be inspired directly by the creations of independent make-up artists. These filters weren’t just replicas of simple beauty looks. In fact, they were exact replicas of intricate works of art, arguably plucked directly from the make-up artists’ feeds.