Models Sue Ford, Wilhelmina & Next Model Agencies in $20 Million Class-Action #Fashionlaw #Modelinglaw

“It pays to be beautiful, but it may not pay as much as it should.Ā Thatā€™s the contention in a $20 million class-action suit against some of New Yorkā€™s top modeling and advertising agencies, including Ford Models, Next Management and Wilhelmina.

The suit, filed on behalf of 31-year-old American model Louisa Raske and other unnamed male and female models, claims that the modeling agencies failed to provide accurate account statements and concealed money received on the modelsā€™ behalf.

ā€œWeā€™ve alleged that the modeling agencies are unjustly enriching themselves by using money interest-free that belongs to the models,ā€ Skip Taylor, lead counsel for Raske, told ABC News.

The main problem, the suit asserts, is that the agencies mix their own funds with the money held on the modelā€™s behalf, which allows them to use that money on their own behalf, with ā€œlittle fear of being discovered,ā€ the suit alleges.
Another issue is that models arenā€™t represented by the same agency for their entire careers. Typically, a contract lasts about three years, and then the model moves on to another management company.

So, if for example, an advertising agency wants to continue to use a modelā€™s photo on a particular product after she has left the modeling company, the modeling company will simply forge her signature or pretend that it had contacted the model and was ā€œlegally allowed to move forward with the business transaction,ā€ the suit alleges. And since models arenā€™t aware that their image is being used again, they might not know that they are owed more money and so they ā€œnever demand or receive payment.ā€

ABC has the full story.