Question
A) X, a designer, seeks your advice on the following: a) X has worked as a freelance graphic artist for Y Ltd for several years.
A) X, a designer, seeks your advice on the following: a) X has worked as a freelance graphic artist for Y Ltd for several years. His artwork for Y Ltd features a cartoon image of a humorous, anthropomorphic ram ("Ramon") in various situations. These images of Ramon have been applied as an important feature of Y Ltd's branding, appearing on its packaging, advertising and website. Z, also a graphic artist, has been impressed by X's work for Y Ltd. She has purchased a subscription to the PicGEN generative artificial intelligence service. On PicGEN's site, which is owned and operated by Q Ltd, users input text prompts and, in response, PicGEN's AI-powered tool generates images based on the prompts. PicGEN's service was trained on a temporary data corpus made up of millions of images scraped from the Internet. This corpus included X's marketing images for Y Ltd. Z entered the following prompt into the PicGEN interface: "Cartoon Fox in style of Ramon adverts". In response to her prompt, PicGEN generated several images, from which Z chose one. Following a series of further prompts from Z, an adjusted image ("Final Image") was generated by PicGEN. Z sent the Final Image to one of her commercial clients, JamCo, a jam manufacturer, which has adopted the cartoon image of a fox for its packaging and marketing. While the Final Image is not the same as any particular image of Ramon, X considers that Z has taken advantage of his creativity in producing the Final Image. He accuses Z of copyright infringement. Z denies infringement, explaining that PicGen generated the Final Image. X wants to sue Z, Q Ltd and JamCo for copyright infringement under the CDPA 1988 for the use of his work.
b) M is a painter and conceptual artist. He obtained one of the advertising panels that Y Ltd uses at trade and promotional events. The panel, which is two metres high and made of cardboard, bears one of X's images of Ramon. M affixed the panel to a thicker board and framed it. He also painted five bright green circles at various points on the framed panel. M's framed panel with the green circles is now on show (with a very high price tag) at the Interesting Gallery in East London. X is unhappy at this presentation of his work. Advise him whether a claim under the CDPA 1988 may be available to him on these facts.
c) X also designs boats. His most famous project to date has been Sewin, a one-off, state-of-the-art, award-winning, ocean-going racing yacht made from aluminium. Sewin has been praised for its unique, sleek, streamlined shape and is regularly referenced in design magazines. X has learned that Filiz Ltd is making and selling a mass-market fibreglass boat called the Minneau. The Minneau, which is being sold by Filiz Ltd on Cutter, an online marketplace devoted to marine equipment, is half the length of the Sewin. Nevertheless, X considers that some aspects of the shape of the Minneau have been copied from the Sewin. Filiz Ltd denies copying any aspect of Sewin's design. X would like to sue Filiz Ltd for infringement of copyright under the CDPA 1988.
Advise X
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