Tainan Arts Festival logo scrapped amid plagiarism accusation

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) The logo for the 2019 Tainan Arts Festival has been found to be a copy of the work of British illustrator Maria-Ines Gul and posters bearing the logo have been taken down after its designer admitted plagiarism, the Tainan City Cultural Affairs Bureau said Tuesday.

The festival kicked off Oct. 9 and is slated to conclude Nov. 11.

However, the plagiarism was revealed Oct. 24 in a message posted on the Tainan Arts Festival's Facebook page.

The bureau then contacted the three-member studio dubbed @3urstudio, which it had commissioned to design the poster.

The studio initially denied the plagiarism accusation, claiming it to be an original work, until Tuesday, when it issued a statement admitting that it had modified the British illustrator's original work.

The bureau demanded that the studio issue a statement and contact the artist to see whether it had infringed on her copyright, but the studio said it had not received a response as of Monday.

According to a city official, Maria-Ines Gul has been made aware that her work has been copied but she has yet to demand compensation for the infringement of her copyright.

The bureau has also pulled the logo off its website and Facebook page and will contact the illustrator and demand compensation from the studio, according to the official.