An artist will sue Iowa Rep. Steve King for copyright infringement for using an illustration he created to suggest a civil war is brewing between red and blue states — unless the controversial GOPer apologizes.
“Seeing one’s work reproduced without consent is a fear of any illustrator, but seeing it attached to such a callous message is a real nightmare,” Yarek Waszul told the Washington Post. “I would never sign my name to or promote any kind of hate or intolerance. This meme is counter to the original spirit of my picture, which was to depict and caution against hostility and vitriol of divisive political discourse.”
Waszul’s image — two figures consisting of red and blue states about to square off — was posted to King’s Facebook page on March 16 and was removed days later.
The image, originally created by Waszul for a New York Times book review in 2013, was used as part of the meme.
“Folks keep talking about another civil war,” it reads. “One side has about 8 trillion bullets, while the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use. Wonder who would win…”
An attorney for Waszul, who is based in Toronto, said use of the image violated his “moral rights” under the Canadian Copyright Act. He’s also entitled to compensation for damages according to US federal and state laws, Waszul’s attorney claims.
“The point is to hold people accountable for the things they post — especially when you’re a public figure,” attorney Paul Bain told the Washington Post.
King has until Friday to issue an apology and retraction on all of his social media accounts, as well as to destroy the offending image, according to Bain’s letter.
The lawmaker’s spokesman, John Kennedy, did not return a message seeking comment early Tuesday.
King has insisted he didn’t know about the contentious image until it was posted to his Facebook page.
“I don’t manage that Facebook page,” King said. “I could control it, but I don’t manage it. So I wasn’t aware that that was posted until yesterday morning and I was also under the understanding that it had been taken down right away — it wasn’t. I wish it had never gone up.”
And he’s insisted that the only people concerned with the image are “national news media,” CNN reported.
“Nobody has raised the issue around here,” King said last month in Algona.