Fashion blogger wins fair use case over Melvin Sokolsky photo
Lauren Messiah beat a copyright claim over Melvin Sokolsky’s “Parker Train” after a judge treated her blog’s Q&A framing as fair use.
A Central District of California judge ruled on June 16 that fashion blogger and stylist Lauren Messiah’s 2009 use of Melvin Sokolsky’s “Parker Train” photo was fair use because she paired it with Q&A fashion advice on her blog.
The image at the center of the case came from Sokolsky, the American photographer known for his Bubble and Fly series. “Parker Train” showed model Suzie Parker seated in a train car across from a uniformed military man. After Sokolsky died in 2022, the copyright passed to Sokolskyfilm, Inc., the licensing company run by his son, Bing Sokolsky.
Messiah had posted the photograph without attribution in a 2009 entry titled “Style Suggestions for Army Wives,” which included a question-and-answer section about how army wives should dress when greeting husbands returning from war. Sokolskyfilm discovered the post in 2025 and sent a cease-and-desist letter. After Messiah took down the post but left the image URL in place, the company sued for copyright infringement and a DMCA violation.
The court then granted Messiah summary judgment on June 16, finding that the photo’s use was transformative because it appeared alongside commentary that gave the image a new editorial purpose. Section 107 of the Copyright Act weighs purpose and character, the nature of the work, the amount used, and market effect, all on a case-by-case basis.
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