MERCEDES BENZ SUES ARTISTS AFTER USING THEIR MURALS WITHOUT PERMISSION ON INSTAGRAM

In a strange PR move, Mercedes-benz USA is suing four different artists [Daniel Bombardier, Maxx Gramajo, James "Dabls" Lewis and Jeff Soto] whose murals appeared in images posted by the carmaker in 2018 under the pretext that these artists have threatened to sue for copyright infringement. And while the artists did not actually file lawsuit against Mercedes_ Benz, it looks like the brand is preventively seeking a judge’s ruling certifying that the use of the images in question do not constitute infringement. Artist Jeff Soto was quite active about the case on Instagram where he shared three consecutive posts on the subject, explaining the case and championing for #Artistrights. “If Mercedes Benz were to win this case it would set a very, very dangerous precedent for companies to use artist’s work without permission, wherever and however they like,” one of his captions read. This calls into question the real-life implications of social media and the blurred boundaries of laws governing online activities due primarily to their rapidly changing nature.