Court Orders Wig Company to Pay Kenyan Model for Image Misuse

Kenyan commercial model Makena Nyambura has been awarded compensation for the unauthorized use of her images by a company specializing in human hair wigs.

The Nairobi-based company, Human Hair Center, is ordered to pay Nyambura Sh240,000 (approximately $1,900) after the court found that it had used her images on its Instagram page to promote its products without obtaining her consent. Nyambura had previously signed a contract with the clothing company New Level Collection Limited to provide modelling services for their clothing line. However, in June 2022, she discovered that her images were being used by the Human Hair Center to advertise popular wig units such as the "Nyambura wig unit 18 inches," the "Naomi unit," and the "mini bob 10 inches."

Nyambura took legal action against Human Hair Center, alleging that her images were used without her consent. Justice Lawrence Mugambi, who presided over the case, expressed strong disapproval of the company's actions. He emphasized that treating models merely as objects for promoting sales disregards their dignity and rights. During the legal proceedings, Nancy Mwai, the owner of New Level Collection Limited, filed an affidavit stating that she had appointed Julie Muiruri, the owner of Human Hair Center, as a consultant marketer for the clothing line.

According to Mwai, under their agreement, Nyambura had supposedly granted the company the right to use her images, videos, and reels as desired—even after the termination of the contract. However, Nyambura asserted that the images were exclusively for New Level's use. Interestingly, Justice Mugambi carefully examined the contract between Nyambura and New Level Collection Limited and found that Julie Muiruri's company name was nowhere to be found in the agreement. This raised questions about the legitimacy of the Human Hair Center's use of Nyambura's images. While Julie did not dispute the promotional use of the model's image, she contested Nyambura's claim that it was unauthorized