One of the most prolific Kansas City underground artists recently stood at the center of a contentious free speech/fair use legal battle that garnered national attention but remained under the radar of most local media. The case was actually a significant milestone in terms of the creative discourse and online meme culture which dominates social media and pop culture conceptions of politics.
Checkit . . .
NYT: Settlement Resolves Lawsuit Over Pepe the Frog Paintings
Deets:
"The settlement is the latest milestone in California-based cartoonist Matt Furie's legal campaign to reclaim his creation from far-right extremists who hijacked Pepe, mixing images of Furie's "chill frog-dude" with Nazi symbols and other hateful imagery . . . Furie and Kansas City resident Jessica Logsdon agreed to the dismissal of the federal lawsuit he filed against her in October. Each side is bearing their own legal expenses.
Furie isn't seeking any money from Logsdon, who agreed to stop using Pepe's image, according to a statement released by one of Furie's attorneys. Logsdon didn't immediately respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.
The statement says Logsdon admits she inadvertently and unintentionally infringed on Furie's copyrights. It adds that Logsdon disavows any association with the "alt-right," a white nationalist, anti-Semitic fringe movement that adopted Pepe as a mascot . . .
"As a political artist, Logsdon documented the 2016 election. Logsdon maintains that she creates artwork that promotes unity and laughter, the exact opposite of hate and violence," the statement says.
You decide . . .
Glad the guy didn't clean her out.
ReplyDeleteThe argument was ridiculous and unwinnable. Basically just a bully tactic.
He's doing the same thing to Alex Jones now. Not that I give a damn about that nutjob but the 1st Amendment protects parody. He's eventually going to get smacked down by someone with the resources to challenge his claim.
Jessica's stuff is really fantastic. She is a great artist that deserves more credit for pushing the limits with her work. She has a lot more talent than so many others who get handed grant money hand over fist to sing the praises of the streetcar.
Delete@1:27 - Agree for the most part. Andy Wahrhol basically won this argument in 1964 when Campbell's soup showed more understanding of art and the 1st Amendment than most so-called artists.
DeleteShe just copies other art and changes it slightly. No big deal.
DeleteShe had no money to take anyway. He didn't want to win all her chickens and ducks.
ReplyDeleteGlad the stress is over for her though, even though she is always a total asshole to me. Love you Jess.
Jess is a stupid bitch
ReplyDeleteThe Bumble Bee painting on her website has the asking price of 100k?
ReplyDeleteI put it in my cart but couldn't get shipping costs so I bailed.
ReplyDeletelol..
ReplyDelete