Japanese internet service allegedly used illustrator’s art in advertising without permission

There’s a Japanese internet service called Nuro Hikari. On August 28th, an announcement was made on Nuro Hikari’s official Twitter account to promote their new 10 Gbps streaming service.

The announcement featured an anime-style illustration of a purple-haired girl smiling towards a light. This post remained on Nuro Hikari’s page for a while until the artist responsible for the illustration realized that the artwork was used without their knowledge.

Japanese internet service allegedly used illustrator’s art in advertising without permission

In a Twitter post, Minamo, the illustrator, said the following:

“Wait… Nuro Hikari, is that my artwork you’re using in your promotion? Did you really go through the trouble of cropping the background, flipping it horizontally, and even changing the colors?

All indications suggest that the artwork in the Japanese internet service Nuro Hikari’s advertisement is an illustration Minamo created eight years ago and was used without their permission.

Minamo received an apology from Nuro Hikari after the illustrator’s complaint. The apology stated:

“We deeply apologize for this incident. At the moment, we are investigating the circumstances surrounding the ad’s publication and taking steps to immediately suspend it.”

Minamo updated their followers with the following:

“I’ve received numerous notifications and can’t respond individually right now, but please hold off on attacking Nuro Hikari’s official account… I don’t think they’re entirely to blame, and I believe this is an issue on the advertising agency’s side… Personally, I’m a bit frustrated because I make a living with my art. I just wanted an official commission request.”

What happned after all?

According to the illustrator, the advertising agency purchased the image from Shutterstock as royalty-free content that could be used multiple times and was then used in Nuro Hikari’s advertisement.

When they became aware of the complaints, they stopped distributing the advertisement on the night of September 4th and received an apology for the inconvenience caused. It was reported that the image was removed from Shutterstock.

Everything suggests that Nuro Hikari purchased the usage rights of Minamo’s illustration from a royalty-free image website called Big Stock Photos, whose parent company is Shutterstock. The website claims to host over 125 million royalty-free photos and illustrations. Nuro Hikari, believing they had officially acquired the usage rights for the image, used it as part of their campaign.

In the end, everything was peacefully resolved between Minamo and Nuro Hikari, with both sides reaching an agreement, and the Japanese internet service offering to purchase the usage rights for the image again, this time directly from Minamo.

Minamo shared a response from Nuro Hikari that said:

“Our company is captivated by your work. We would like to make a payment and plan to continue using your creation for our advertising in the future. Above are the details and proposed agreement.”

Currently, the advertisement post remains on Nuro Hikari’s official page. See more confusions involving illustrations.

Via: Automaton