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The Year in Review - top 10 stories of 2022
The year 2022 was filled with many IP rip-off stories where young creators accused popular brands of stealing their ideas.
PitchMark covered many of the much-discussed stories about IP theft during the year, ranging from a joke at the Oscars to design rip-offs. Here’s a compilation of the best stories of 2022 from PitchMark.
These are the stories where you, our readers, have engaged with the most, either via e-mail replies or through social media interactions. If you liked any of our stories other than those compiled here, please let us know – we would love to hear from you.
As the year comes to an end, and we pause and reflect on the months gone by, we are thankful for all your support. Here’s wishing every one of you and your families a very Happy New Year! Happy innovating!
Writer, performer and artist Christine Davis accused Quinta Brunson, the creator of the popular television show "Abbott Elementary," and the network behind it, ABC, of copyright violations. She alleged that the show is a copy of her own script, "This School Year”.
Amy Schumer was accused of plagiarizing a joke from Twitter for her Oscars opening speech. In her monologue, Schumer joked about Leonardo DiCaprio ‘has done so much to fight climate change and leave behind a cleaner, greener planet for his girlfriends’. Schumer later said that she didn’t steal that joke because she was “funny enough”.
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’. Zhang claimed that it was an unauthorized reproduction and uses of her fashion photograph appearing in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 2017. Zhang’s Luxembourg-based attorney Vincent Wellens spoke to PitchMark for further insight into the case and its most recent developments.
4. Fast-fashion brand Shein faces growing accusations of plagiarism
Chinese fast-fashion online retailer Shein, known for its high frequency of refreshed inventory, has been accused of plagiarizing designs from big brands such as Levi Strauss and Ralph Lauren.
5. Dua Lipa’s hit song "Levitating" slapped with two copyright cases
British pop star Dua Lipa faced two copyright infringement cases relating to her smash hit song “Levitating”, which released during the pandemic. A US-based reggae band accused her of copying a portion of their song, while two songwriters have accused her of ripping off their decade-old disco songs.
SKKN by KIM, Kim Kardashian's recently-launched skincare brand was accused of stealing its name from two already existing beauty brands - SKKN+ and Lori Harvey's skincare line SKN by LH - but Kardashian's legal team argued that SKKN+ mark's descriptive character meant that no organization should have exclusive rights to it, and allows for Kardashian to also participate in the market.
7. Kanye West accused Adidas of copying of his Yeezy slides design
The rapper found the Adillette slides, which Adidas first introduced in May on social media, similar to his Yeezy slides, which were released in 2019. To express his displeasure, the 45-year-old rapper wrote a lengthy post on Instagram, which was later deleted.
US-based Singaporean photographer Jingna Zhang 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.
9. BrewDog now accused of stealing ideas from job interviewees
Scottish multinational brewery BrewDog was accused by American marketer Jenny Frankart of stealing her marketing ideas during a job interview. Frankart claimed BrewDog asked her to come up with ideas for a marketing position and asked her to fly from California to Columbus to attend four interviews.
10. Food writers appalled by chef Elizabeth Haigh’s alleged plagiarism in her debut cookbook
London-based chef Elizabeth Haigh – who was born in Singapore and whose mother is Singaporean – named her first cookbook Makan, but she was accused of plagiarizing several food writers in her book.
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