Being an artist has always been a tough gig. There’s struggle, you may/may not get paid well, you have a bittersweet relationship with ‘exposure’, and you have to constantly keep battling against the odds, which will rarely be in your favour. And when you add plagiarism in the mix, it’s not a very appetising combo for an artist, budding or established. Because for any artist, there’s nothing more frustrating than not getting due credit for their art.
Author and illustrator Adam Ellis had a similar tryst with plagiarism. Coldstone, an international ice cream brand, used his artwork for their social media campaign, without compensating him for it or giving him due credit.
Adam’s comics are quite popular on social media. The ice cream brand borrowed, without permission or due credit, some of the characters from his comics for their social media campaigns for Indian markets.
Here are two of Coldstone India’s posts on Instagram:
And here is one of Adam’s comics. Notice how the same characters, the boy and his cat, make an appearance in the above campaign artwork as well.
You can imagine how frustrating Adam must’ve felt to have his hard work used by a mainstream brand without receiving any recognition for the same. And so, he sought help from the very platform where it all began.
Adam Ellis took to social media to share screenshots of the Coldstone India’s Instagram posts and sought some redressal from the brand. But instead of sending them an invoice for compensation, he did something entirely different!
Hi @ColdStone @ColdstoneIndia, it appears you stole and traced a bunch of my art for a large campaign. Normally I'd send an invoice to license my work, but in this case I'm asking you to make a donation to Inner City Arts to help underserved kids. Thanks. https://t.co/BBvLza5r9U pic.twitter.com/ODYbbhitHb
— 𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔪 𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔰 (@moby_dickhead) April 12, 2018
Now that’s a wonderful way to address this situation, wouldn’t you agree?
Twitter was unanimous in their support of Adam and their displeasure of Coldstone, demanding the latter to acquiesce to the artist’s demand.
The question on everyone’s mind was, how exactly did it get approved without basic research? The other fact being, his comics were quite popular on social media, so how come no one in the marketing team anticipated this travesty?
1. Shady.
https://twitter.com/nicolexavier111/status/986841076693692416
2. Why steal when you can’t do your own job?
https://twitter.com/bigpieceofcrap/status/986733727828070400
3. Losing customers like….
Well I won't be visiting @ColdStone anytime soon https://t.co/YSiLb2o0a5
— Gloria the Gorilla (@cyndimac_attack) April 13, 2018
4. Make it good.
Better be a decent bloody donation @ColdStone https://t.co/n7rDBmoLaJ
— Tess (@tess_sebastian) April 14, 2018
5. An appeal.
Do the right thing, @ColdStone and @coldstoneindia. https://t.co/FdZFGIGK25
— A guy (@justaguytoronto) April 14, 2018
And guess what? They did! Adam shared an update on Twitter that Coldstone had done exactly what he wanted!
Coldstone has donated $10,000 to Inner City Arts. I'm glad they did the right thing! https://t.co/9w149AzB08
— 𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔪 𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔰 (@moby_dickhead) April 18, 2018
The brand even deleted the posts with Adam’s artwork in them from their social media pages.
However, Twitter was divided on what they thought about this move by the brand, and Adam’s decision to be content with this.
The optimists maintained, “All’s well that ends well”!
1. Now that’s a nice combo!
When stealing art has a happy ending…like Oceans 8…with ice cream! https://t.co/RXoSk0tQAo
— Blaire (@BlaireBitchproj) April 18, 2018
2. Leading by a nice example!
https://twitter.com/KarenDhanraj/status/986703272491626496
3. Adam got some love too!
This is one of the many reasons, Adam Ellis is one of my favorite human beings. https://t.co/vg4SjdkWJE
— Garrick Sather (@GRicky_DoesShit) April 21, 2018
4. And Coldstone got its customers back!
I can end my cold stone boycott 😆 https://t.co/EkdSb4aHvo
— ♡ Jasa ♡ multi-fandom trash (@JRanmaru_9_29) April 18, 2018
The other, unsatisfied side of the coin felt that the Adam went too easy on the brand.
Most of them think that Adam should’ve sought stricter action against the brand to deter others from future plagiarism.
1. Should’ve donated the money yourself….
https://twitter.com/curvsandcurls/status/986730308295938049
2. Only did this because they were caught.
DICK-MOVE, @ColdStone @ColdstoneIndia; it's swell that you made a $10K donation, but you shouldn't have f*cking stole his art in the first place. You only made a donation cuz you got CAUGHT. https://t.co/4uLWUwETVp
— Heroes wear masks. 😎 (@MidwestPhoto) April 20, 2018
3. Donation + payment of dues = fair.
@ColdStone @coldstoneindia I applaud the donation, but how about also paying @moby_dickhead for his art that you plagiarized?
— Carla Sanchez (@GlamourJock) April 20, 2018
4. Stop stealing. Period.
I’m glad they did the right thing, but it’s too bad they did the wrong thing first numerous times. 😡 Stop stealing from artists. https://t.co/VqJD793p3V
— Jenny from LeBlanc (@TheYaoiReview) April 18, 2018
Both sides seem to have their own valid points. While the artist does appear satisfied with the quantum of damages and how they were paid, the matter of ethics is also a substantial topic in debate here.
What do you think Adam should’ve done?