Something interesting popped this week which I never thought could have happen. At least not when it involved one of America’s biggest brand: Old Navy (which, for the uninitiated, is a Gap Inc. brand). It has nothing to do with tech nor lifestyle, but I felt compelled to share because, it could be a classic case of corporate bullying. Anyways, Lili Chin is an illustrator who are accustomed to her art stolen, but this particular theft was no ordinary one; it was Old Navy who supposedly did the deed. Here’s words straight from the victim’s mouth:
“My art gets stolen all the time.
“I have been through many copyright infringement cases – some have been resolved amicably, and there are ones that have taken more work. This case against Old Navy (Gap) is not getting resolved right now because Old Navy is denying copyright infringement.
They are being totally unapologetic, and have said that it would be a “bad business decision” for me to expect to be reasonably compensated for the use of my art. Instead of compensating me, they have chosen to pay a large law firm to fight me, and have even asked the judge to order me to pay THEIR legal fees.
When a company as large and mainstream as Old Navy steals my art and profits from it, and is unapologetic about it, I cannot afford NOT to fight this. My lawyers and I will be fighting this for as long as it takes.””
Based on what we read and saw, blatant copying aside, what ensues sure looks like a case of business bullying. What a shame. Seriously, just look at the artworks. Flipping images and/or adding/removing colors does not made them original artworks. And they even have the cheek to deny the entire thing when it is clearly copies? Good lord, what are these people thinking? We don’t even need the flip side of the story. A copy is a copy. What’s there to argue about? Of course, we cannot discount that it could be a business deal went sour. Whatever it is, the response by Old Navy seems rather unfitting for a big corporation, is it not?
Note: we tried finding the supposed infringing products on Old Navy’s website but couldn’t find them. Perhaps, they have been pulled?
Images: Lili Chin.
via Boing Boing.
