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No longer making Moomin art
4 years ago
Hey everyone,
After thinking for a long time, I've decided that I will no longer be making Moomin art. The art that is in my gallery will also be deleted. Let me explain why.
Some time ago, a friend of mine who was also a Moomin fan, was sued by the Moomin company. There were a multitude of reasons. Here are the ones that I know of:
1) Creating a hub for a service that allows people to download/consume Moomin-related media. Yes, this sounds incredibly infringing of Moomin's IP and I am not trying to deny that. But the thing is, Moomin-related media has very poor syndication. It's near impossible to get your hands on either physical media or watch anything on tv or a streaming service. There are tons of Moomin-related visual media that never got to see the light of day beyond what area they were orginally showcased in and my friend simply wanted to offer Moomin fans a chance to enrich themselves with everything the franchise had to offer, without making a single penny; it was a labour of love with nothing but good intentions. Namely, spreading the knowledge of the existence of more Moomin stuff, past what's been deemed mainstream like the 90's series and the new Moominvalley series.
2) Having a Moomin-related Twitter handle. Originally, my friend had the name of a Moomin character as part of their Twitter username. Since he also used Twitter to gain attention for his commissions, the Moomin company took this as him using their IP to gain clout, fame and by extension money. No good.
3) Having art of Moomins as commission examples. On that same Twitter, my friend offered examples of his commissions, aka stuff he drew without being paid for it, to serve as an example of his style. Unfortunately, one of those examples featured Moomin-related characters and the company once again took that as IP theft for monetary gain.
As a result, my friend has now been sued for 50.000 dollars by the Moomin company. He's a lone artist with not a lot of financial prowess to speak of. So now, both him and his family are left in financial ruin and don't have a lot to stand on until their debt to the company is paid and all legal costs are covered.
If you want to get technical, the Moomin company had every right to press legal charges to protect their IP. That's as solid as can be. HOWEVER, as a company that produces a franchise with a fan-following, such treatment of fans, when it comes to light, is horrible PR. After learning about this, Moomins has never been the same for me. I used to love the franchise because of its lessons about carefree life, not caring for material possessions and lighthearted anarchy. To have this franchise in the hands of people who apparently care for the exact opposite is jarring to say the least and it saddens me to see Tove Jansson's legacy treated this way.
For these reasons, I have decided to step down from Moomins and it breaks my heart. I've enjoyed this franchise and its fans immensely, but I just cannot continue supporting it when said fans are being subjected to such a harsh treatment.
Do what you want with this information. If you still want to enjoy Moomins, then that's totally fine and I won't judge. Just know that I won't be coming back to it anytime soon, if ever.
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
After thinking for a long time, I've decided that I will no longer be making Moomin art. The art that is in my gallery will also be deleted. Let me explain why.
Some time ago, a friend of mine who was also a Moomin fan, was sued by the Moomin company. There were a multitude of reasons. Here are the ones that I know of:
1) Creating a hub for a service that allows people to download/consume Moomin-related media. Yes, this sounds incredibly infringing of Moomin's IP and I am not trying to deny that. But the thing is, Moomin-related media has very poor syndication. It's near impossible to get your hands on either physical media or watch anything on tv or a streaming service. There are tons of Moomin-related visual media that never got to see the light of day beyond what area they were orginally showcased in and my friend simply wanted to offer Moomin fans a chance to enrich themselves with everything the franchise had to offer, without making a single penny; it was a labour of love with nothing but good intentions. Namely, spreading the knowledge of the existence of more Moomin stuff, past what's been deemed mainstream like the 90's series and the new Moominvalley series.
2) Having a Moomin-related Twitter handle. Originally, my friend had the name of a Moomin character as part of their Twitter username. Since he also used Twitter to gain attention for his commissions, the Moomin company took this as him using their IP to gain clout, fame and by extension money. No good.
3) Having art of Moomins as commission examples. On that same Twitter, my friend offered examples of his commissions, aka stuff he drew without being paid for it, to serve as an example of his style. Unfortunately, one of those examples featured Moomin-related characters and the company once again took that as IP theft for monetary gain.
As a result, my friend has now been sued for 50.000 dollars by the Moomin company. He's a lone artist with not a lot of financial prowess to speak of. So now, both him and his family are left in financial ruin and don't have a lot to stand on until their debt to the company is paid and all legal costs are covered.
If you want to get technical, the Moomin company had every right to press legal charges to protect their IP. That's as solid as can be. HOWEVER, as a company that produces a franchise with a fan-following, such treatment of fans, when it comes to light, is horrible PR. After learning about this, Moomins has never been the same for me. I used to love the franchise because of its lessons about carefree life, not caring for material possessions and lighthearted anarchy. To have this franchise in the hands of people who apparently care for the exact opposite is jarring to say the least and it saddens me to see Tove Jansson's legacy treated this way.
For these reasons, I have decided to step down from Moomins and it breaks my heart. I've enjoyed this franchise and its fans immensely, but I just cannot continue supporting it when said fans are being subjected to such a harsh treatment.
Do what you want with this information. If you still want to enjoy Moomins, then that's totally fine and I won't judge. Just know that I won't be coming back to it anytime soon, if ever.
Have a wonderful day, everyone.
Thank you for letting us know, I hope your friend and their family will be alright.
Have they posted any proof of the lawsuit?
I am so sad to hear about what happened to your friend, that company could've reached out with a warning first? That's so awful of them to just sue like that.
Also I love your art and am looking forward to see your new art (not of the moomins of course) c: