Artist Michael Sieben (of Internet Shack fame) believes Shaun White and Target have appropriated his original designs and used them without payment or attribution on Shaun White’s kids clothing line. Yesterday he used his Vice.com column Kill the Engine to outline the similarities between Target’s clothing and his art in a piece titled Who Shaun White Is. Here’s Sieben’s take away:
As a freelance graphic illustrator, it has always been my dream to land a large commercial account that would catapult my career into the mainstream collective conscious. And I think that these t-shirts might have just done that. . . BUT… I totally didn’t have to deal with filling out a bunch of contracts, or worry about invoices, and I for damn sure didn’t have to think about collecting royalties. And what would I have done with all of that money? Seems like a huge headache to me. So I got all of the benefit of having my imagery available at one of the largest retail outlets in the United States without having to deal with any of the financial benefits. Total win for me.
Yeah. Total win.
[Link: Vice.com]
He could lose in court, but he should look in to suing in order to just make a point. What I don’t understand is, if you like an artists style, and you’re going to bite it, why don’t you just hire that artist in the first place?
I agree totally Mt Crunk. Why not hire him and get even better designs. Looking Sieben’s work it’s clear there’s similarities with the target clothing, but it just looks tacky compared to the source material.
Good luck to him getting something back from them!!!
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