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23 July 2018Copyright

Elon Musk settles copyright fight over flatulent unicorn

After causing a stink on social media last month, a copyright dispute involving Elon Musk, a potter and a flatulent unicorn has been settled.

Potter Tom Edwards announced the settlement on Friday, July 20, while Musk, who is the co-founder and CEO of electric vehicle specialist Tesla, shared the news on Twitter the following day.

The dispute came to light last month when Edwards’ daughter posted a  tweet accusing Musk of “ripping off” her dad’s artwork.

Edwards runs pottery business Wallyware, where he sells ceramic items featuring his designs and artwork.

In 2010, he created an image of a flatulent unicorn which was featured on mugs sold by Wallyware. Edwards  said the inspiration for the mug came from fracking, which he called the “environmentally unfriendly way to get coal out of the ground”.

Musk tweeted a photo of the mug with the caption “maybe my favourite mug ever”, in February 2017.

Two months later, Musk tweeted a very similar unicorn image as part of a promotional campaign related to Tesla’s new sketch pad feature, which is included in certain vehicles. Musk didn’t credit the image and it was mistakenly reported by news outlets, such as  Business Insider, that he had created it himself.

Edwards’ lawyer reportedly sent a letter to Musk following the release of the feature, but after receiving no response, his daughter took to Twitter to confront Musk directly.

She said: “Your company has been using his creative property for a year without credit or compensation—don’t you think artists deserve to be paid for their work? Maybe you can respond to the letter his lawyer sent you and you guys can work something out.”

In response to the allegations on Twitter, Musk claimed that Tesla’s unicorn sketch was similar to Edwards’ design but that it had been chosen randomly by Tesla’s software team as an example of the company’s new feature.

Edwards was subsequently interviewed by The Guardian newspaper and said: “I love the fact that it’s in the cars, but I just want them to do the right thing and pay me adequately for it.”

According to Edwards, the dispute has now been resolved “in a way that everyone feels good about”.

He added that he has always been a fan of Tesla.

Terms of the agreement have not been made public.

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