SO I saw this in a Portland store yesterday and didn't know what to think. Paul Frank is kind of a hack anyway, but unless there's some sort of liscensing or a lapsed copyright - He completely ripped off the design from the charming (and remembered fondly by me) children's book "Crictor' by Tomi Ungerer. the Paul Frank wallet I saw... ...and Ungerer's book.
it happens all the time. I've seen lots of companies steal designs from small or long forgotten artists. missy used to work for Urban Outfitters in customer service and would tell me all the time how they would get threats of law suits from artists that they blatantly stole artwork from. I know it's surprising because you think of Paul Frank as an artist, but I mean, it's really just a clothing company at this point.
nothing beats the time Mary Lou Retton's husband called us and said one of his kids came home and told him about someone wearing an "I did Mary Lou" shirt to school. He said she was a great role model for kids, and if we didn't stop selling the shirt, he was going to sue us. he did. and we did.
can't say much about paul frank, but isn't there a distinct possibility they purchased the rights to produce stuff with that characters likeness?
^of course he also did a line with andy warhol images. at the end of the day, who gives a shit about this?
