The shoot fee buys your time. Usage is the thing with the price tag.
She was booked as an "Unrecognizable/Parts Model" at $1,000 for four hours. An email promised "Partial face (less than 30%)." She alleges about 95% of her face was used in an Instagram perfume ad. The agency asked for a $2,500 recognizable fee. A suit was filed in Los Angeles federal court in September 2026. These are allegations, not findings.
Usage is the product you are selling
The shoot fee buys your time. Usage is what has value: where the image runs, how long, how recognizable you are, and which media. Price them separately.
The email is the contract
Deal memos, booking confirmations, and emails can be read together as the agreement. Get every limit in writing, in one place, and reply "confirmed" to the exact terms.
Your likeness is a separate right
California Civil Code §3344 covers the knowing use of a name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness in ads without consent. The statute provides the greater of $750 or actual damages, plus profits from the use, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. There is also common-law misappropriation. Other states have their own versions. New York Civil Rights Law §§50–51 is one.
Read the fight clauses, and who signed
Arbitration, venue, and governing-law clauses decide where and how you would fight: in private, and maybe in another state. Ask whether your agency can sign for you, and on what.
Eight usage terms every deal should state
Fill these in before the shoot, not after the ad is up.
- Recognizability: fully recognizable, or partial (max __% of the face; no eyes, or not), or unrecognizable / parts only.
- Media: organic social (which accounts), paid ads and whitelisting, web, out-of-home and print, TV and streaming.
- Term: __ months from the first post, with takedown by a stated date.
- Territory.
- Exclusivity: which category, for how many months, and the fee.
- Edits and AI: no AI alteration, voice or face replication, or synthetic re-use without separate written consent and a separate fee.
- Upgrade fees: recognizable use, paid-ads extension per month, and overage that bills itself.
- Approval and disputes: talent approval of the final cut, governing law, forum, and agency authority limited to a stated scope.
An email you can send:
Confirming usage for [shoot/date]: [paste 1–8]. Any use beyond this requires written approval and the fees above. Please reply "confirmed."
If they overstep
Screenshot the use with the date and the URL. Send a written notice that names the clause and the fee you are owed. Keep it factual. Note any deadline in the contract. Talk to a lawyer before you sue.
A note before you sign
This is general legal information, not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Right-of-publicity and contract law vary by state and country. The Victoria's Secret matter involves allegations only. Speak to a licensed attorney about your contract.
Sources
- NY Post (1 Oct 2026)
- Bloomberg Law
- Cal. Civ. Code §3344
- N.Y. Civ. Rights Law §§50–51
