Three Design Lawsuits I've Considered Recently...

As a graphic designer, I feel that it's always important to check out some lawsuits to learn (and be entertained-ish) from. I have three (rather) solid examples of such cases.

Graphic Artist Files $1M Lawsuit Against Tapout Claiming Fraud and Design Theft

Essentially Justin Weber is a graphic designer from San Francisco, CA, who created the Tapout™ logo for the MMA company. In exchange for his logo, Tapout™ had to buy merchandise from Justin Weber's studio, MIA. Now, Tapout™ does not own any of Weber's designs. They simply compensated Weber by purchasing branding merchandise from his studio for resale. 50 designs later, after seeing the success that the logo bought the company, they opted to scheme their way out of working with Weber, by creating and selling merchandise without Weber's permission (and payment) whatsoever.

I liked this story, because it was during a time when I was just beginning to work with clients who needed prints and logos. Was definitely important.

Link - http://www.rfcexpress.com/news/article.asp?ID=3295

ESPN v. Quiksilver Inc: Lawsuit settles for undisclosed terms

Not knowing about Extreme Sports too much, I thought that this was pretty ridiculous. However after looking back and forth...it does kinda look similar. ESPN declared that Quicksilver violated a trademark. The issue is as obvious as anything if you look at both of the images. ESPN protested and complained to Quicksilver inc. over the use of the bold "X". However, Quicksilver spokesperson Joshua Katz stated that ESPN only contacted them once in the fall of 2007, and accused ESPN of not responding to Quicksilver's attempts to talk out the issue. Another surprising thing about this lawsuit is how good the relationship between the two companies were before this.

In essence, I have stopped using bold "X"'s.

Link - http://www.famouslogos.org/espn-v-quiksilver-inc-lawsuit-settles

Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image

     This one hits closer to home because I love Shepard Fairey's work. He was being accused of copyright infringement, because he used an image of Barack Obama that was shot by a freelance photographer for The Associated Press. He filed a lawsuit against The Associated Press pretty much asking the Judge whether or not he is protected from copyright infringement and if it falls under "fair use". Julie A. Ahrens, associate director of The Fair Use Project and one of Fairey's lawyers, have staunchly defended the artist. "He should not have to deal with misguided threats from The A.P." Paul Colford, spokesperson of The A.P. stated that the agency was "disappointed by the shock filing by Shepard Fairey and his failure to recognize the rights of photographers in their works.". Another lawyer has claimed that all Fairey was doing was changing the photo into a totally different and new message.

Another lawsuit I found interesting, as both a photographer and an ink-and-wash painter.

Link - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html

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