Trouble's brewing for Tesla: Complaints, a ‘PR stunt’, & now copyright violation
Meeting their Model 3 production goals is probably the only thing going right for Tesla and Elon Musk this quarter.
By ET Bureau | Updated:
By Shannon Tellis
Meeting their Model 3 production goals is probably the only thing going right for Tesla and Elon Musk this quarter. Plagued by workplace safety complaints, a whistle-blower suit and a ‘PR stunt submarine’, the company can now add another problem to its already full task list, a ‘farting unicorn’ copyright violation.
According to reports, Musk illegally used a ‘farting unicorn’ drawing he found on a mug to promote Tesla’s new sketch pad feature without compensating or attributing the original artist. The cartoon, which depicts unicorn farting electricity, was also used in a company Christmas message last year, forcing the artist to reach out to Tesla.
Alerted to the possible violation, Musk initially tweeted that the drawing had been “chosen randomly by software team as a joke” and that he “offered to pay the guy who drew it twice for something I don’t even want”.
When the artist denied receiving any such communication, Musk hit back saying that it would be lame to sue and that the artist should be grateful for the bump in his sales. Guess it’s safe to say Musk is full of hot air.
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MS Dhoni
The former captain cool lost his cool last year when his Aadhar details were erroneously leaked online after the Common Services Center's official Twitter handle shared a photo of MS Dhoni's Aadhar application form. In fact, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had liked the tweet too, without noticing that Dhoni's personal details had been made public. He also tweeted a photo of Dhoni giving his bio-metric details to a representative.
Meeting their Model 3 production goals is probably the only thing going right for Tesla and Elon Musk this quarter. Plagued by workplace safety complaints, a whistle-blower suit and a ‘PR stunt submarine’, the company can now add another problem to its already full task list, a ‘farting unicorn’ copyright violation.
According to reports, Musk illegally used a ‘farting unicorn’ drawing he found on a mug to promote Tesla’s new sketch pad feature without compensating or attributing the original artist. The cartoon, which depicts unicorn farting electricity, was also used in a company Christmas message last year, forcing the artist to reach out to Tesla.
Alerted to the possible violation, Musk initially tweeted that the drawing had been “chosen randomly by software team as a joke” and that he “offered to pay the guy who drew it twice for something I don’t even want”.
Elon Musk STILL hasn’t paid my dad. I guess now we just hope that he’s visited by 3 ghosts on Christmas Eve & decid… https://t.co/P9RJjqyNl1
— Lisa Prank (@lisaprank) 1531409623000@elonmusk @hipquark @jovanik21 it’s a copyright issue of stolen intellectual property—I’m not sure exactly what he… https://t.co/6j3lvV09Kx
— Lisa Prank (@lisaprank) 1530140688000When the artist denied receiving any such communication, Musk hit back saying that it would be lame to sue and that the artist should be grateful for the bump in his sales. Guess it’s safe to say Musk is full of hot air.
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The former captain cool lost his cool last year when his Aadhar details were erroneously leaked online after the Common Services Center's official Twitter handle shared a photo of MS Dhoni's Aadhar application form. In fact, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had liked the tweet too, without noticing that Dhoni's personal details had been made public. He also tweeted a photo of Dhoni giving his bio-metric details to a representative.
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