Kylie Jenner, a celebrity who is valued at almost a billion dollars, is being sued by a small cosmetics company for ripping off a range of their eye shadow and using its name. Sheree Cosmetics released its Born To Sparkle glitter eye shadow palette in October 2017 while Kylie Jenner’s glitter eye shadow product with the same name was released later in 2018.
Kanye West, a rapper and businessman seems to have lifted someone’s design, even if it was just a flash of an idea in a passing remark to President Donald Trump. He showed the president, a picture on his phone of what he called the iPlane 1, a hydrogen-powered plane that should replace Air Force One.
According to a study by Nielson Music, commissioned by Soundtrack Your Brand, a background music company backed by music streaming service Spotify shows musicians are losing out on an estimated US$2.7 million every year because their music are listened to illegally.
TJ Barrack and his business partner Marc Joubert are suing Jeff and Michael Zimbalist for allegedly copying their concept for Remastered, a documentary series that will explore seminal events in the lives of artists such as Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Jam Master Jay and Sam Cooke.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad claims to have plagiarised the idea of an upcoming national car brand from the people.
Mark Robinson was watching television when he got a rude jolt – his invention, Jolt My Car, had appeared on screen under a different name, marketed by a different company.
Paparazzi pose a strange problem to celebrities – they make money off the photos they take of the celebrities, while the celebrities do not make a cent. So it is a kind of poetic justice when celebrities start stealing photos from paparazzi, usually when they copy the photos from the website of a news outlet that has licensed the photos.
The Malaysian branch of major international advertising agency TBWA has found itself infused in hot water over claims a slogan for a bubble tea franchise was copied from a local motorcycling lifestyle brand.
The slogan "Never fear the strong. Especially strong tea" was recently adopted by Tealife in a major rebranding exercise (forced upon owner Loob Holdings by a dispute dubbed the "bubble tea
Even politics is not immune to idea theft. While political parties generally try to attract voters by being different from other parties, sometimes adopting the policies of others and calling them your own is a better strategy.
Good ideas can make or break a TV show - especially in reality TV. So it's no wonder writers are tempted to copy ideas from already successful shows. But does that make it right?
Rock band U2 is being sued by guitarist Paul Rose for ripping off his sound for their hit track The Fly.
Advertising agencies have long asked prospective clients to pay pitch fees, to compensate them for the time and effort that goes into creating pitches - even if they end up unsuccessful. Singapore's Central Provident Fund is now offering such fees. In general, we don't advocate pitch fees because it could reduce your claim to compensation if you lose a pitch, but your ideas are used anyway.
