Stylist sues the YMCA for using her photo in ad campaign

Kimberly Clark's suit claims that she was working as a stylist on a YMCA ad campaign in 2014, when she was asked to model as well. Now her likeness is plastered on billboards all over New York city, and she has filed a suit against the YMCA, Matador Productions and Wolfe Doyle Advertising. Daniel Wolfe, co-owner of Wolfe-Doyle, has denied wrongdoing.

The whole "model release" ritual of yore seemingly never happens these days, so perhaps the stylist has a case. Kimberly Clark says that she only found out she was featured in an ad campaign “when she was informed by her friends and family that her image was ‘all over.’ ”

Previously in adland, a model sued Taster's Choice after discovering it was his face that graced the label all those years, and when Virgin used a creative commons licensced image for their campaign, forgetting that "model release" is an actual thing. Moral of the story is hire professionals.