You might not know the name, but you do know the work of this A list online comic strip creator who’s been very heavily memed for both his art and his supposed dealings with the supernatural. He’s recently taken to social media to claim one of his works has been ripped off by the creators of a short film, but what he isn’t saying is that a different short film already beat him to the punch by several years.

So who’s ripping off who?

Adam Ellis

Karatin

Cartoonist Adam Ellis Claims Short Film, Keratin, Plagiarized His Work

Cartoonist Adam Ellis, famous for his long-running series of cartoons featured on Buzzfeed, posted a blistering charge of plagiarism on Twitter against two independent filmmakers, Andrew Butler and James Andrew Mackenzie Wilson, about their award-winning short film, Karatin, which features a man burying his fingernail and a clone somehow growing from the nail.

The film was posted on the website, Directors Notes, which features curated independent films along with interviews with the filmmakers about their films. After the interview and the film were posted on February 1st, 2021, Ellis posted his damning missive.

His tweet read, “This film is a fully plagiarized, shot-for-shot remake of my comic. The filmmakers didn’t ask me for permission to adapt my work. They didn’t even notify me they were doing so until the film had already been released and was winning awards at film festivals.”

He continued to note, “They emailed me in October, when the film was making festival rounds, & asked me to HELP PROMOTE it. When I told them I didn’t approve of it and asked them to pull it from festivals, they ghosted me for months. Now they’ve premiered it on [Directors Notes], & don’t even credit me by name. The comic they stole is deeply personal to me, maybe the most personal comic I’ve ever made. I drew it shortly after I left my day job because of disputes over ownership of my personal work. The comic is about self-care, reinvention, and personal growth.” He then added, “After ghosting me, all the filmmakers made their accounts private or blocked me. I should’ve known they never intended to honor my request to pull the film.

But hey, I guess it’s nice to know my stories are out there winning awards, even if I’m not credited.” – Source


Read more on these Tags: