thesis statement: we are proposing a law that protects all models, both free lance or agency represented, where all LLC’s must obtain a license to hire any model. Social media’s presence and the pandemic have drastically changed the fashion industry and make it tricker get honest work as a model. This license will ensure that models get paid on time, above minimum wage, and that the client must disclose and adhere to agreements.

step 1 The problem:

Working closely with the modeling industry and analyzing the ins-and-outs of the business, our group has spotted an issue within the industry we believe needs change. The issue is that models are often paid late and/or under minimum wage in certain circumstances. We have found that legit companies easily scam even signed, agency-represented models because there’s no protection or legal agreement in the hiring process. This is happening because models are independent contractors, not employees. Even when a model is signed to an agency, the agency technically works for them, so they usually do not have the benefits of being legally protected like an employee would. While employees nation-wide filde for unemployment during the pandemic, models were not able to do so ast easily. There needs to be protection for models working for any professional corporation or LLC.
While the issue of underpaying models is not necessarily new, the pandemic and social media’s presence have exacerbated this even more. Social media’s presence and the pandemic have drastically changed the fashion industry and make it tricker to get honest work as a model because there is no legal protection. Major clients like Target or Gucci are typically in a binding agreement with their models and remain professional, however, there are many major clients in the business, and especially small businesses, that are hiring models and promising them pay verbally and not delivering. There is little to no liability for the companies to compensate the models who are still waiting for paychecks since the pandemic. Our group believes that models signed with an agency and free-lance models should be legally protected when hired by a professional client labeled an LLC or corporation.
But why is this happening? Possibly because companies know that being a model is glamorous which makes it easier to hire models through direct communication without consulting their agency. The pandemic created a lack of modeling jobs and changed the types of modeling jobs. Booking a signed model directly through email or social media communication is now become a new norm. This makes it easy to scam models, not paying the promised amount or paying late, especially during the pandemic when models are starved of jobs. For example, Terani Couture, an LLC, hires signed models to model their dresses for social media and website ads and pays them under minimum wage and is dishonest upfront. We believe if models are responsible for choosing and rejecting jobs, clients should be required to abide by certain standards in hiring models to work for their professional brand.

step 2 SOLUTION: require LLC’s and Corporations to have a license in order to hire models in which the license protects models and ensures:
they get paid on time
company integrity- disclose pay upfront

models get taken advantage of when companies don’t go through agencies to hire them. they technically can because models are “independent contractors” and agencies work for them.

idea: we could propose some law about hiring a signed model where companies still don’t HAVE to go through a model’s agency to hire them- but there has to be a license that protects the model from getting taken advantage of
Example: Terani- they promise a pay and then underpay that (more info on Terani in part 1)