A U.K.-based tattoo artist named Emily Jayne recently lost her main Instagram account after posting Sleep Token-inspired designs. Sleep Token’s management company, Rico Management, accused her of copyright infringement. She had several posts featuring the original tattoo designs based off of the heavy metal band’s imagery.
Jayne used the account to build her tattoo business. Social media is a crucial tool for tattoo artists to build a client base, and losing it can be devastating. After Rico Management had her account shut down, Jayne addressed the supposed infringement from a new account. Word spread, igniting many conversations about the company’s “abuse of power” and the effect of this on creative spaces.
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“My designs are heavily inspired by the band or a tribute to them and the fans, all of which are my own designs that I’ve worked hours and hours to design and get out into the world,” Jayne wrote in her statement. “I worry that this abuse of power will become worse and more widespread, attacking smaller businesses and creativity. I know a lot of cosplaying and fan accounts have also been taken down previously.”
Tattoo Artist Sparks Conversations About Copyright Infringement After Sleep Token Management Shuts Down Her Instagram
After Jayne posted her statement, with many others joining in on the conversation, Rico Management responded. On October 11, they sent Jayne an email claiming that after consulting with Sleep Token, they decided to reinstate her account.
“We have spoken with our client, and because of how this negatively affected your account, they have requested that we retract our claim against your account,” the email stated, which Jayne shared on social media. “Please note that several posts on different platforms were reported and may still be removed as a result of earlier submissions. If that happens, rest assured we will address each instance as it arises.”
Of the decision to reverse the claims, Jayne wrote that “it looks like bad publicity on social media and in the press got them a bit scared.” She also shared that she’s not sure if she’ll actually get her old account back, but that “this is still a mini victory!”
This entire incident has rehashed a long-argued conflict between fans and copyright laws. Fan art, fan fiction, tattoos, and cosplay have been around for decades. These transformative works have always butted up against copyright infringement claims. Sometimes people will design counterfeit merch and pass it off as authentic, in which case DMCA away. When artists creating original work in homage to their favorite bands constantly receive copyright infringement notices, there’s a problem.
Rico Management Has a History of Aggressive Copyright Claims Against Fans
Additionally, fans have brought up evidence that points to Rico Management as “a scam company.” According to several posts on Twitter, Rico serves as a third-party copyright infringement firm known for being “extremely aggressive in filing DMCAs – even when the artist involved is fine with the content being shared.”
Rico Management is often at the center of discussions about copyrighted music in fan-made YouTube videos. There are several ways to use copyrighted material under YouTube’s fair use policy. Creators have shared their experiences with Rico Management’s infringement claims, even when their work falls under the fair use parameters.
Photo by Katja Ogrin/Redferns
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