designers and corporations are constantly fighting it out in court over
infringement and copyright claims. Today we will be looking at five high-profile
and interesting cases in the first episode of a new series, the dark side of design
apfelkind is german for Apple child and it was a name given to a small town cafe in
Bonn Germany. it was the brainchild of Christine Römer and was a quaint
family-run cafe in the suburb Bonn. she wanted the logo to reflect family and
fun and had the brand placed on a coffee mugs and the decor around the cafe. all was going well
that is until she received a notice from the super corporation Apple suggesting
that she withdrew her logo as quote unquote it would confuse customers. Apple
filed this back in 2011 but christina römer was determined to stand firm and fight
mega multinational. in 2013 it was a win for the little guy as Apple subsequently
withdrew their request. no doubt this has worked out amazingly well for her as not
only does she get to keep her business and logo but she has gained a huge amount of
free publicity and notoriety.
another standoff between a huge established corporation and a small-time family business occurred back in 2001 in
kuala lumpur malaysia. there was an Indian fast-food restaurant named McCurry
which was meant to be short for malaysian chicken Carrie. I'm not so sure
that's the honest truth. however, this was set to be a long legal slog through two
courts. it started in 2001 and the court decided in favor of the supergiant
McDonald's. But the stubborn and strong malaysian owners stood their ground and
they appealed. in 2006 mcdonalds took the case from a high court to federal court
the decision was finally made in 2009 in favor of a small-time Indian fast-food
outlet, another win for the small guy
this next one's a bit confusing but in may of 2011. bill dawson a graphic designer and head of the X canine graphic design studio sued millennium
films, nu image and technical
she straight up went on the sue spree.
yeah i just made up a terminology. you see he was commissioned to design the logo
for millennium films as an agent for Technicolor. They negotiated a verbal contract
and after completing the work they showed no interest in buying the logo
from poor bill, one reason you should try and get a written contract or have
fifty percent of the budget paid up front. anyway he went on his merry
little way, the California graphic designer later went to see and the movie
conan the barbarian and was both shocked and outraged to see his lego slap bang
on the silver screen. his lawsuit urges millennium films to stop using the logo
and to pay 200 thousand dollars in damages. as far as i can tell this case
is not yet finished and is ongoing
this is a very recent lawsuit and so it's pending, nonetheless it is an interesting case. sam simon is an artist and he was commissioned to paint
a mural for the big gay ice cream and their storefront. he completed it and was paid
happy days
this was back in 2011, skip forward to present day and Sam noticed
that big gay ice cream had taken the design and used it for their logo, mainly the
unicorn aspect of it it. They didn't ask for his authority or even mention a single
word to him about this, 'it is everywhere' sam said. He is seeking no less than
half a million dollars, but the final amount will become apparent when it goes to trial
this last case is another very recent case but it is for sure on the dark side
of things and it is for sure huge. The Tobacco industry make billions and billions of
dollars every single year selling a product that will inevitably kill
millions of people
the British government in 2016 rulled it to be law that the packaging must refrain
from using logos and to be totally white in color, this obviously has rubbed up
the evil cigarette companies in the wrong way and they are sent us to the
British government for billions in lost revenue
let's hope that good prevails and the evil it stomped out once more
Ihope you enjoyed this video and if you did give it a thumbs up because it really helps
especially a very small and new channel such as mine. this was the first episode
of my new series on this channel I will have a dark side of design episode every
other saturday on the other saturday i will have speed art videos as usual and
of course tutorials on Tuesday you can subscribe to keep updated until next
time
design your future today
peace