Submission + - Artist Sued for Inauthentic Copies
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Eriq Gardner reports that Todd White, the former SpongeBob SquarePants lead designer, is now the defendant in a $5 million class action lawsuit that claims he deceived thousands of art buyers into buying reproductions of his art that were not authentic. According to the lawsuit filed by Carole Harris, White issued numerous limited-edition "giclees," a high-resolution digital scan of an original piece, substituting it onto a substrate, and applying a protective varnish sealant. White advertised the works were gilcees, and "consumers nationwide were willing to pay thousands of dollars for mere reproductions of original art." So far, so good. But the plaintiffs say that the reproductions aren't authentic. Each was supposed to be hand-signed by White himself, but instead White had others "trained to 'paint' Mr. White's signature." White is no stranger to the courts having previously been sued for sending ninjas to take over his art dealer's gallery, but even if the allegations are true, White wouldn't be the first artist to direct underlings to make art under a false signature joining apprentice artists from the Renaissance age to Andy Warhol's factory in the 1960s."
