Amid cuts, photographer sues P&G over copyright

A local photographer is suing Procter & Gamble, accusing the consumer products giant of not paying her for photos that appeared on Olay packaging around the world.

Annette Navarro, a 46-year-old photographer with a West End studio, specializes in shooting models whose images have appeared on packaging for Jergens, John Frieda, CoverGirl and others. For 14 years, her photos have also dominated packaging for P&G’s $2 billion beauty brand Olay.

An expert retained by the attorneys in the case has estimated P&G could be liable for more than $75 million.

Navarro copyrights her photos and licenses the rights for years at a time. She is accusing P&G of deliberately using several of her photos on products beyond the agreed upon three-year time period and outside of North America where P&G said it would use the images.

For some of her photos, P&G was looking to keep costs down and specifically negotiated only to use the images in North America, Navarro said in court documents. She first learned her work was appearing worldwide when modeling agencies complained to her about unauthorized use of models' images.

The lawsuit comes at a bad time for P&G, which is seeking cut costs and return to steady growth. The company is telling shareholders its turnaround is making progress even as it fights the overtures by a hedge fund that says the restructuring needs new eyes.

If Navarro's lawsuit is to be believed, P&G has achieved some of its cost cuts by not paying all its bills.

P&G has virtually declared war on excessive marketing costs, which it has singled out a major focus in its latest $10 billion cost cutting efforts by 2021.

Since 2014, P&G has slashed more than $600 million in marketing costs and fired 40 percent of the agencies it works with – and the cutting continues. In June, chief financial officer Jon Moeller said it wants to eliminate another $1 billion in agency, production, in-store materials and other costs.

P&G executives have said they want to reallocate advertising and marketing dollars away from agencies and into ads and messaging that reach consumers.

Despite the penny-pinching, early this year P&G aired three ads during the Super Bowl.

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Last year, P&G spent $7.2 billion on advertising.

P&G has since paid the modeling agencies hired by Navarro, but not her. Navarro's attorney, Firooz Namei, said she's rejected a proposed payment by P&G because it hasn't been forthcoming about how much or where her photos have been used.

But Navarro's photos have appeared on packaging for Olay Pro X spinning brush, Olay Regenerist Advance Cleaning, Olay Facial Hair Removal, Olay Daily Facials in dozens of countries around the world, according to the lawsuit.

Firooz noted his co-counsel in the case, Jan Berlage, won a $1.6 million judgement against Florida-based health company Stemtech for copyright infringement on just a two photos.

The lawsuit strikes a chord in Cincinnati, home to a robust specialized branding industry that boasts more per capita marketing muscle than New York. Local branding powerhouse LPK  and specialty design firm Saatchi & Saatchi X are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Navarro's career is a uniquely Cincinnati story. A Finneytown High School grad, she attended the University of Cincinnati before becoming a makeup artist.

In 1997, she studied new makeup techniques in Europe that were more difficult to photograph and she began shooting models herself. Since the late 1990s, she concentrated on photography for beauty products.

While her business rises and falls with the advertising industry – she made just $6,000 in 2008 amid the panic of the financial crisis – she has regularly made six figures annually.

P&G and LPK declined to comment on the lawsuit. Saatchi & Saatchi X did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The civil claim, filed in the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati in June, is unusual as many marketing vendors try to quietly smooth over disputes with the world’s largest advertiser, to keep future business prospects alive.

Among the more than 150 federal civil lawsuits P&G has been involved in the last five years, most are product liability or employment related.

Angela Lee, chair of the marketing department at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business, said vendor disputes, such as Navarro's, don't often reach court because small agencies and contractors don't have resources to make sure their contracts are followed to the letter. Also, small vendors don't want to drag out disputes with big clients.

"A lot of disputes don't get reported publicly," Lee said. "Everyone wants to control costs, but if you're a larger company you have more power in these negotiations." 

Once again, P&G is the world's top advertiser