The elephant in the room

 

Similar Concepts

Tjeerd Royaards in Substack.

Let me start this editorial by stating that I am not accusing any artist referenced here below of plagiarism. 

Editorial cartooning isn’t exactly a get-rich-quick scheme, so in my opinion there aren’t many cartoonists who plagiarize (why would you?). 

There are, however, a lot of instances where cartoonists come up with similar concepts.

AI Re-Imagines original cartoons

From The Daily Cartoonist.

It seems a fairly new YouTube uploader is taking cartoonists’ original cartoons, “re-imagining” (read: swiping) them through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and then passing them off as their own.

Original Jack Ohman cartoon

Turhan Selçuk Competition revokes winning cartoon

 

The first prize of the 14th Turhan Selçuk International Cartoon Competition has been revoked after allegations of plagiarism were levelled at the author. 

An investigation determined that Mehmet Akif Özdal had previously participated in various competitions by copying other artists’ cartoons.

Dust-up among Canadian cartoonists

Mike Peterson from The Daily Cartoonist.

A bit of a dust-up among Canadian cartoonists, after Dave Whamond’s commentary on the bloodbath controversy drew a slap-down from the mysterious “Rivers” who is permitted to distribute his cartoons through Cagle without signing his real name or explaining his exemption.

Supreme Court rules against Warhol Foundation

From The Washington Post.

Prince, photographed by Lynn Goldsmith in 1981

The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a photographer who claimed the late Andy Warhol should have honored her copyright on a photo of the rock star Prince when creating an iconic artistic image of the late singer.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court majority in the 7-2 decision, which legal experts said could carry far-reaching implications for copyright protection and so-called transformative art. 

The issue is the legal doctrine called “fair use,” which encourages artistic expression by allowing for the use of protected works without the original creator’s permission.

AI-Created Comic Deemed Ineligible for Copyright Protection

From CBR.

Reversing an earlier decision, the United States Copyright Office rules that a comic book made using A.I. art is ineligible for copyright protection.

Auditor steals baseball cartoon

From Ann Telnaes' Twitter account.

This  full-page ad for the Janice Lorrah campaign was published in the Delaware Cape Gazette. 

The original cartoon (see below), by cartoonist Ann Telnaes, was altered, uncredited and used WITHOUT PERMISSION.

Andy Warhol’s Image of Prince Before Supreme Court

From The Hollywood Reporter.

In a copyright battle with major implications, the justices heard arguments in a dispute over whether Andy Warhol’s alterations to a photograph of Prince should be considered a new work.

AI can now create any image in seconds

From The Washington Post.

None of these photos were taken by a camera. All of these images were created by the artificial intelligence text-to-image generator DALL-E. Named for Salvador Dali and Pixar’s WALL-E, DALL-E creates images based on prompts such as:

• “A hobbit house designed by Zaha [H]adid.”
• “A woman in a red coat looking up at the sky in the middle of Times Square.”
• “Red and yellow bell peppers in a bowl with a floral pattern on a green rug photo.”

Copyright lawsuit proceeds against Disney and Pixar

 From The National Post.

If you were a student of animation at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont., twenty years ago, you probably saw a 14-minute live-action low-budget student production about the internal life of a boy called Lewis and how his behaviour is controlled by five organs, each personified as a character: Brain, Stomach, Colon, Bladder and Heart.

It was called Inside Out.

Altered Cartoon Causing a Stir in Trenton

 From The Trentonian,

Original cartoon by Brian Fairrington

It's not the first time a politician was upset about a political cartoon.

But at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley said he felt an editorial satire that appeared on a local Facebook group went too far by calling for his assassination during a taut time in city politics.

Allan Fotheringham, dead at 87

From The Globe and Mail. 

Allan Fotheringham as seen by Maclean's collaborator Roy Peterson.

In May, 1979, when Allan Fotheringham’s array of journalistic sniper’s nests included the back page of Maclean’s magazine, a local Vancouver TV interview program, and a thrice-weekly column in the Vancouver Sun, Tom Alderman concluded a profile of him in The Canadian magazine by noting the columnist had resisted participating in the article but eventually agreed to a chat over lunch. 

The encounter was amiable, then turned alarming: “‘Remember,’ [Fotheringham] said gleefully as we waved goodbye, ‘you can run a Fotheringham story maybe once every 10 years. I’ve got a column every week to get back at you.’”

Canadian Energy Centre's logo comes under fire a second time

From The Calgary Sun.

For the second time this month, the Canadian Energy Centre war room’s choice of a corporate logo has run into possible flak.

A California-based software company said Friday it’s considering legal action over the CEC’s use of a logo it deems similar to its own.

Something fishy

Michael de Adder posted this cartoon yesterday which I thought looked familiar. Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner provided the answer this morning:

Jeff Koons Found Guilty of Plagiarism

From artnetNews.

Fait d’Hiver by US artist Jeff Koons at Christie’s auction house is seen before going on sale for an estimated $4-6 million in New York on November 12, 2007. Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images.

Jeff Koons is found guilty of plagiarism in Paris and ordered to pay $168,000 to the creator of an ad he appropriated

A French adman claims victory in his legal battle with the US artist over a surreal campaign featuring a rescue pig and freezing model.

U.S. Postal Service must pay millions for Statue of Liberty mistake

From The Washington Post.

A federal judge ordered the Postal Service to pay $3.5 million to Robert S. Davidson, after admitting it had confused an image of his plaster sculpture replica in Las Vegas for the 19th-century stone-and-copper behemoth off the New York shore.

Two Halifax editorial cartoonists see their work ripped-off

From CBC News.

For the second time in a week, a Nova Scotia editorial cartoonist has had his work stolen to profit off a national tragedy.

Michael de Adder's drawing of two hockey players in Toronto and Humboldt jerseys with their arms around each other went online on Tuesday.

Take Two

From History of Cartoons.

Accidents happen and cartoonists are not necessarily aware of every cartoon ever published, but some coincidences do seem troubling.

You be the judge:

A case of "déjà vu"

I came upon this cartoon by Bob Matson a few days ago but had a strange feeling of having seen it before.

Then it hit me: