Rapper Yumdda apologized for plagiarizing a foreign illustrator’s ‘Elon Musk’ artwork to make T-shirt goods
Rapper Yumdda (real name Yeom Hyun-soo) admitted to the allegations of plagiarising an illustration.
On November 4th, foreign illustrator Corinna Marin posted on her Instagram story, saying, “Korean rapper Yumdda stole my copyrighted artwork, ‘To The Moon’ and sold it as merchandise.”
She added, “According to the messages I received, he earned 430 million won from the product that used my design. I would’ve gladly collaborated with you.”
Along with the post, the illustrator attached Yumdda’s album cover, which was released in September, and photos of the shirts he sold.
All of these products are printed with the same images of a man flying in space on a Shiba dog (Doge). In fact, the original work is an illustration showing the CEO of Tesla – Elon Musk sailing in space on a Shiba dog, which refers to the “Dogecoin”. This picture became famous and was shared on Elon Musk’s Twitter account by himself.
Amidst the controversy, Yumdda posted a story on the same day, saying, “I’ve just confirmed the original author of the design on my goods this time. I sincerely apologize for not checking the information in advance.”
He continued by suggesting a negotiation of the payment, “I will make sure that a fair payment will be paid to the original illustrator and try to solve this problem.”
Earlier, Yumdda started selling goods, such as T-shirts and slippers, through his SNS account on the 30th of last month. Surprisingly, he gathered more than 400 million won after selling these products in just 3 days.
