Titan Law PLLC

As some of you are aware, we’ve done a few posts about this case, but we will give some further background for the newbies. All earlier posts can be found in the Blog Archive, and specifically available here.

Ah, the influencer industry—a place where originality, aesthetics, and the ability to make neutral-colored home goods look somehow thrilling reign supreme. But what happens when your “bestie” turns into your biggest copycat? Apparently, you file a lawsuit and let the court sort out who owns the rights to liking things on the internet first.

That’s exactly what Sydney Nicole Gifford, an influencer who has spent years perfecting the fine art of posting Amazon finds, is doing. She’s suing fellow influencer Alyssa Sheil for what can best be described as digital identity theft or some twisted Single White Female gaslighting experience. Just as in the film, the complaint is essentially a legal thriller about one woman allegedly borrowing heavily from another—right down to the photo angles, captions, and even a suspiciously similar tattoo. You know, for that extra dedication to the bit. Talk about Method.

Sydney claims Alyssa didn’t just get inspired—she went full Jennifer Jason Leigh, allegedly lifting entire content themes, curations, and even Sydney’s branding aesthetic. The lawsuit accuses Alyssa of copying Sydney’s product lists on Amazon, mimicking her Instagram and TikTok posts down to the very emoji placement, and even styling photoshoots in the exact same way. Because apparently, nothing screams “individual creativity” like hitting ‘Ctrl+C’ on someone else’s profile.

And lest you think this was a case of two influencers accidentally liking the same trendy throw blanket, Sydney came with receipts. The amended filing details a pattern of eerily similar posts, including one where Alyssa conveniently showed up at the same boutique spa Sydney had featured—right down to the shots of the doormat, the neon sign, and, of course, the strategically edited glow-up footage. A coincidence? Or just an aggressive game of psychotic follow the leader?

As we have detailed in our legal book for content creators and influencers (link below), Sydney tried to handle things the civil way—by sending cease-and-desist letters and reporting the alleged knockoff content to social media platforms. And while TikTok, Instagram, and Amazon removed some of the duplicate posts, Alyssa allegedly kept at it, as if daring the internet gods to let her slide. Unfortunately for her, Sydney has now taken the matter to court, seeking damages, legal fees, and what is presumably the ultimate unfollow.

She is asserting the following claims in the Amended Complaint (which is attached below): 1) Federal copyright infringement; 2) vicarious copyright infringement; 3) Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations; 4) trade dress infringement; and 5) misappropriation. There must be some decent money in “sad beige” influencing because this is not going to be a cheap litigation. But, when you’re dealing with this sort of homegrown terrorist, sometimes only a lawsuit will do.

So what’s the lesson here? If you’re going to copy someone, maybe don’t do it so blatantly that it turns into an actual federal lawsuit. Or, at least, if you do steal someone’s entire influencer identity, maybe don’t also get their tattoo? Just a thought. About the only thing Alyssa hasn’t done is get pregnant at the same time, which, based on the allegations above, she probably tried to do.

Not every case of copyright infringement is going to be this straight-forward, but if you keep good records, enforce your intellectual property rights, and do things by the book, you’re going to be way ahead of the game.

Need help? Contact us at blog@titanlawny.com and check out our book – Legal Issues in a Digital World: A Practical Toolkit for Content Creators and Influencers. Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Read the Amended Complaint here: