Artist calls in lawyers after Tories use his Burnham portrait without consent

A Manchester-based illustrator whose work appears in The New Yorker is weighing legal action after the Conservative Party repurposed one of his cartoons for promotional water bottles at their conference. The cartoon, originally created for a June byelection campaign, featured the prime minister and was rebranded with the slogan "Bottler Burnham" to mock Labour leader Andy Burnham. The move has raised questions about copyright and political appropriation of artistic work. The artist’s decision to pursue legal action could set a precedent for how political parties handle creative content.

Stanley Chow’s cartoon was put on water bottles at party conference with the slogan ‘Bottler Burnham’An artist is considering legal action after the Conservative party used his cartoon to mock Andy Burnham.Stanley Chow, a Manchester-based illustrator who works for the New Yorker magazine, created a cartoon of the prime minister for campaign material in the Makerfield byelection earlier in June. Continue reading...