Take one independent artist. Add one large national shop chain. Add in an unresolved complaint by the artist and mix with Twitter. The result? A trending topic for the Paperchase chain of shops and talk of rip offs.
The artist in question has blogged today about her experiences with the national chain taking one of her figures, retracing and reprinting it on a new background, then selling branded articles without nod or royalties to the artist.
The post today, from Hidden Eloise describes how her work has been copied and placed onto the Paperchase work. The long post describes her process of contacting the chain and the apparent lack of response causing her to blog her frustrations.
You can read the blog for the full argument, what interests us is the speed at which the complaint is flying round the Twittersphere.
With the apparent lack of Twitter presence by Paperchase (or some legal advice) this story will continue to escalate unabated. As a new survey suggests only a quarter of UK companies take a presence on Twitter, perhaps this will help convince others of its power.
Update
Paperchase have published two statements today, the latest naming the agency that had allegedly copied the artists’s work. The Hidden Eloise has also updated her blog.
Top Thumbnail taken from The Hidden Eloise.
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