Israeli Instagram model Yael Cohen Aris has taken legal action against a Chinese company that manufactures sex dolls after discovering that her likeness was stolen for the prototype of a head.
Chinese company Irontech Dolls advertises sex dolls that include the option of detachable heads which can be traded out. One of the heads it produces, along with a life-size doll, is called the “Yael” and has Cohen Aris’s facial structure, hair color, eyeglasses, and beauty mark.
“It’s not just about a beauty mark and my name, because sex dolls are still just dolls and there is a limit to how much they can look like a human being,” Cohen Aris told ITV’s This Morning show. “But once it was connected to my identity and image and videos, social media, there is no mistake here.”
Cohen Aris was first tipped off by a fan in 2019, who sent her a link to a forum where the product was being discussed. At the time, the “Yael” head was priced at $420. A full Irontech Doll complete with “Yael” head is currently being marketed on websites for over $1,400. Her social media photographs and videos were also being used without her knowledge to promote the prototype.
Cohen Aris is taking legal action and demanding the full removal of her likeness from the company’s product line. She has stated that she would not agree to settle on a share of the company’s profits.
I think first of all it should get off the shelves, and then maybe we could talk about what happened and how things went wrong and why,” she said. “I’m not talking about compensation, I think learning a lesson from this would be the best thing to come out of this story, and this is also what I hope to achieve by raising awareness — that is what I am trying to pursue.”
She told British TV talk show This Morning that she wants to “bring a real conversation about our privacy, if we want to share ourselves online,” Cohen Aris said, continuing “We need to have this conversation about how we can protect our identities.”
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