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The Halloween art in question
Nail polish brand China Glaze recently launched a "Wicked" line for Halloween, but they almost immediately came under fire from an artist named Abigail Larson, who she accused them of copying some of her artwork for their packaging. She wrote on her Facebook page:
I was just alerted that China Glaze has used my artwork on their "Wicked" series product without my permission. I've already taken the legal steps to clear it up, but please, please don't buy this product if you see it in stores! I was not compensated, or even asked if they could mutilate my artwork for their products. It's really sickening.
Almost immediately, China Glaze contacted Abigail to respond.
We would like to actually thank all of you for bringing to our attention the similarity of our "Wicked" art to that of the talented Abigail Larson. China Glaze had hired an outside contract artist from the LA area to help us develop what we thought was an original piece of art for this collection.
Larson seems to be buying China Glaze's argument. Her original post was deleted from Facebook, and this appeared in its place:
China Glaze is not at fault, it's the artist they hired who is to blame. It's shameful that he thought he could get away with this, and make money off of my work. But, China Glaze assured me their attorneys are going after him now, and I just might have a contract with CG to design products for them in the future! So, hopefully there is a happy ending to this madness, and we can move forward.
While Larson seems content with the outcome, it's worth noting that this isn't China Glaze's first legal dispute. Earlier this year, when preliminary versions of their Hunger Games "Colours from the Capitol" polishes were leaked, Lionsgate (the studio producing the movie) announced that they were suing China Glaze. The lawsuit never ended up materializing, and it's possible that the suit was merely a publicity stunt, but the whole thing was pretty suspicious.
Either way - if you're an unnamed artist in Los Angeles who did some freelance work for China Glaze, don't answer your phone today.
· China Glaze allegedly rips off artist's work for Halloween nail campaign [Examiner]
· Abigail Larson [Facebook]
· China Glaze [Official Site]