AMA’s Response to Balenciaga's legal action
The Artists Management Association has been actively following the actions and developments surrounding Balenciaga’s lawsuit against North Six and Nicolas Des Jardin. We are pleased to learn that Balenciaga is no longer pursuing legal action against them.
North Six is a well-known global production company and considered a leader in our industry. Likewise, Mr Des Jardin is an accomplished, well respected set designer who has executed creative visuals for many global fashion brands. It was troubling to see a fashion house knowingly deflect blame on the hired production company to avoid responsibility for its own creative decisions.
It has long been industry standard that the creative brief and creative direction are provided by, and the ultimate responsibility of the client. The artist representation agencies that make up the AMA membership, as well as the artists they represent and their production partners work at the behest of the client in order to bring their brand messaging to life. No production company or set designer should be responsible for liabilities associated with creative decisions, unless they are explicitly agreed upon between the parties in writing.
The AMA is an organization which was founded to be a touchstone for best practices and to lead our industry to higher standards of excellence. We stand behind ALL production companies that are hired to execute briefs solely as provided to them. Brand representatives have multiple opportunities from pre-production, to on set, to post-production in which to review and approve creative before it is released into the world. Because clients retain this exclusive authority to release campaign imagery to the public, they must take responsibility for all legal disputes that arise therefrom. In the case of Balenciaga, we are happy to see them make the decision to do just that. Anything else would be a deviation from the industry standard.
Considering these events, the AMA will be holding a town hall on Friday, December 9th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET to discuss the provisions that are currently incorporated into our resources to protect member agencies, their artists, and production partners. We will also be reviewing legal language found in some client contracts and provide suggested revisions/additions in order to perfect and accurately articulate the responsibilities of the parties, thereby limiting unintentional potential liabilities for the member.
We hope you’ll join us for this important discussion.
