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Image source: todayonline.com / nautadutilh.com

Litigation update in the Jingna Zhang-Jeff Dieschburg case: Defense denies liability for infringement

In June, Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang filed a copyright infringement action against Jeff Dieschburg, an art student at the University of Strasbourg, for his award-winning painting ‘Turandot’, which Zhang claimed was in fact an unauthorized reproduction and use of her fashion photograph appearing in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 2017. PitchMark caught up recently with Zhang’s Luxembourg-base

Image source: callofduty.com / midnightcosiety.com / artstation.comartstation.com/Sail Lin

Activision Blizzard accused twice by creators for plagiarizing their skin designs for Call of Duty

Gaming company Activision Blizzard stands accused once again of stealing the concept of an NFT design that gaming studio Midnight Society was planning to introduce in its own game Deadrop. Although Activision acknowledged its mistake in using the skin design in Call Of Duty without the artist’s permission, it did not accept the plagiarism allegations.
Last month, Midnight Society’s head and gam

Image source: Shake it off - pinterest.ph / Players gonna play - discogs.com

Taylor Swift rejects plagiarism allegations over hit song "Shake It Off"

In response to a lawsuit filed in 2017, pop star Taylor Swift claims to be the sole writer of her 2014 hit “Shake It Off” and denies plagiarizing lyrics from the 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play” by 3LW, which was written by songwriters Sean Hall and Nathan Butler.
Hall and Butler had previously filed the lawsuit in 2017, but was dismissed by the judge. However, they appealed in 2021, with judge Mic

Image source: Instagram account of 8EyedSpud

7-Eleven Singapore called out for copying images for its Hawker Fiesta campaign

7-Eleven Singapore is accused of copying images for its recent Hawker Fiesta 2022 campaign from creative studio 8EyedSpud’s artwork for Hawker Culture 2020.
8EyedSpud contacted the convenience store chain to notify them about the matter, and it was subsequently put in touch with the creative agency LH.M Advertising that 7-Eleven had engaged.
The advertising agency acknowledged the infringeme

Image source: 1news.info / open.spotify.com / pcmag.com /pinterest.ph

Netflix accuses Barlow and Bear, creators of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, of crossing boundaries of fan fiction "well past its breaking point"

Netflix has sued the creators of The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, for infringing copyrights of the hit show Bridgerton after they performed a live musical concert of their version without permission.
The streaming platform, which owns the exclusive rights to authorize derivative works based on Julia Quinn’s book series, released Bridgerton's first season in Dece

Image Source: nobelprize.org / goodreads.com / theguardian.com

Novelist John Hughes in hot water over plagiarism accusations

Sydney-based Australian writer-novelist John Hughes and his work "The Dogs" is under intense scrutiny these past few weeks due to allegations of plagiarism. The Guardian Australia investigated and found multiple similarities and identical instances from another literary work, Svetlana Alexievich’s The Unwomanly Face of War. The issue has caused Hughes' work to be removed from the longlist for the

Image source: BBC.com / equineteurope.org / Nyome Nicholas-Williams Instagram account

Spanish beach body campaign used a model’s image without her consent

British model Nyome Nicholas-Williams has accused Spain’s Ministry of Equality of using her photo from Instagram and featuring it in their advertisement without her permission.
The ministry launched a summer campaign that features five diverse women chilling out on a beach to persuade women who are worried about their body looks and, therefore, avoid going to the beach.
The Institute for Wom

Screengrab of www.dreamstime.com

Dreamstime launches new tool to help, educate and persuade naive copyright infringers

Dreamstime, one of the world’s leaders in photo licensing, has introduced LicenseGuard, a proprietary copyright tracking tool that seeks to resolve disputes by offering cost-effective licensing as well as education.
The tool will use AI-powered scanning technology, cutting-edge image recognition algorithms, and human assessment to track, detect, and flag potentially unlicensed uses of the agenc

Image Source: imdb.com / logos.fandom.com

Writer Christine Davis accused actress Quinta Brunson and ABC of plagiarizing Emmy-nominated series

Writer, performer, and artist Christine Davis has accused Quinta Brunson, the creator of the popular television show "Abbott Elementary," and the network behind it, ABC, of copyright violations.
She has alleged that the show is a copy of her own script "This School Year."
Davis wrote the script for her series about filming a television comedy at school in 2018, and registered the copyright f

Image source: zhangjingna.com & todayonline.com

Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang accuses Luxembourg student artist of plagiarizing her work for award-winning painting

Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang, who is currently based in the United States, has filed a lawsuit against Luxembourg-based art student Jeff Dieschburg accusing him of painting a picture that is almost identical to a photo she shot in the past.
The artist has denied the plagiarism allegation, but he doesn’t deny taking inspiration from the photo. Zhang, on the other hand, believes a “perso

Image source: foodandwine.com / localcoffeespot Instagram

Seattle Space Needle sues local coffee shop for copying its logo

Seattle coffee shop Local Coffee Spot is being sued for allegedly copying the logo of the city’s Space Needle.
The lawsuit states the coffee shop’s purple and white branding is too close to Space Needle's own trademarked design.
Space Needle’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer Karen Olson said: “Like the Empire State Building and Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle is a licensed

Image comparing two pieces side-by side. Pulled from Case 2:22-cv-04128-PA-GJS

Chinese fast fashion giant Shein sued by artist Magdalena Stephenson for copying her artwork

US-based artist Magdalena Mollman, professionally known as Maggie Stephenson, has accused Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein of using her artwork without permission.

She has sued Shein and its distribution company for more than US$100 million in damages on account of four claims: copyright infringement, vicarious and/or contributory copyright infringement, removal of copyright management i

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