Culture News
Gruffalo illustrator weighs suing AI firms: German press names OpenAI, BBC frames copyright
Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of the children's book monster the Gruffalo, is considering legal action against artificial intelligence companies, BBC News reports. He believes the firms breach copyright by reproducing his work in AI-generated Gruffalo images.
The story first appeared in German-language media on October 19, after Scheffler spoke to the weekly Die Zeit. Austria's Tiroler Tageszeitung said the complaint centres on OpenAI's ChatGPT, which, when asked for a Gruffalo, produces within minutes images closely resembling his style. He said the character is plainly his, though the backgrounds look nothing like the way he draws.
“Ich bin entsetzt, das ist ganz eindeutig meine Figur” (“I'm appalled, this is clearly my character”) — Axel Scheffler, via beck-aktuell
Germany's legal news site beck-aktuell put the case in context. Scheffler would prefer to go to court alongside other artists and is discussing support with his publishers. Penguin Random House has already sued OpenAI over the Der kleine Drache Kokosnuss books, backed by the German book trade association, and the music rights society GEMA won in court against OpenAI over song lyrics. OpenAI said it is reviewing the allegations.
How each outlet framed it
- BBC News — a beloved British picture book and the copyright fight with AI firms.
- Tiroler Tageszeitung — Scheffler's shock at ChatGPT's images, and OpenAI's response.
- beck-aktuell — the legal landscape: a publisher's lawsuit and the GEMA ruling.
What we don't know yet: Whether Scheffler will actually file, in which country, and whether other illustrators will join him.