Cheating models out of their hard-earned loot may be downright criminal.
A judge has notified state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that New York models may be getting fleeced by predatory businesses in the modeling industry.
In a rare referral last month, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Peter Sherwood wrote a letter suggesting the prosecutor look at a $30 million class-action lawsuit filed by eight male and female models against Next Model Management, Wilhelmina Models, Ford Models and other firms over photograph usage fees.
“Because the above referenced case may involve matters in the public interest, the case is being brought to your attention,” Sherwood wrote March 3.
“Plaintiffs, who are (or were) professional models, allege that New York modeling agencies failed to pay them usage extension fees to which they are entitled,” the judge wrote.
The models claim their images are used in advertisements without their knowledge long after their contracts with the firms have ended.
They say the modeling agencies — or sometimes advertising agencies — sell the photos and then keep all of the money, without letting the models know.
“I love this industry,” said model Louisa Raske, 33, a plaintiff in the Manhattan lawsuit. “But I and many other models have been financially victimized for years and something needs to be changed to protect us.”
Raske, who signed her first modeling contract with Next when she was just 16, ended her relationship with the agency in 2001. But in 2012, she walked into a CVS drugstore and saw an old photo of herself on a box of hair color.
Only after making repeated inquiries did Raske find out that Next had been receiving payments for her photos for years, the lawsuit claims.
The agency told Raske it had tried to contact and pay her in 2010 but refused to send her an account statement, according to the lawsuit.
Wilhelmina, Next and Ford deny the allegations. Their lawyers didn’t return a request for comment.
Sherwood tossed an earlier version of the lawsuit in September, noting that Raske was suing 25 modeling agencies and nine advertising agencies despite having worked with only five of the companies.
But the model and her colleagues filed a modified version in October — and Sherwood’s letter to Schneiderman may indicate the case has legs.
Monroe Freedman, a Hofstra University law professor who specializes in ethics, said judges in civil cases usually alert criminal prosecutors only when the alleged conduct constitutes an emergency.
“To my knowledge, it is very unusual,” Freedman said.
Judges are obligated to alert law enforcement if they believe there’s a possibility of a crime having been committed, said David Bookstaver, spokesman for the state courts.
“We did receive the letter, but have no comment,” a spokesman for Schneiderman said.
Alex Shanklin, 36, a plaintiff who worked as a model in New York for more than a decade shooting photos for J. Crew, Target and Macy’s, said his images were used after he cut ties with Wilhelmina in 2004.
“The system has left the talent in the dark,” he said. “We hope the attorney general can go to bat for us.”
Superstar model Teresa Moore — not a plaintiff in the lawsuit — stuck up for her fellow pose-strikers.
“I have never had this problem at the agencies I have been with, however, I fully support my fellow models to stand up for a transparent and fair modeling industry,” Moore said.
The letter to Schneiderman was highlighted by a lawyer for the models in new Manhattan Federal Court papers accusing several agencies of violating the settlement in a previous class-action case. The 2005 order by Judge Harold Baer required the firms to implement clearer payment practices.
But the modeling industry “remains a dinosaur,” according to Skip Taylor, lawyer for the models. Taylor wants Baer to enforce his 2005 order, establish a website on which models can track their photos and impose a monitoring program.
