Pepsi accused of theft
The family of Bob Carlos Clarke claims that one of his images has been copied by one of the world's most famous brands, and is prepared to go to court. Bupesh Jain reports on the case
The Lick/Mouth © The estate of Bob Carlos Clarke.
The estate of British photographer Bob Carlos Clarke is ready to take a beverage giant to court over an alleged copyright theft.
The wrangle is over an image used during a recent publicity campaign by Pepsi Co.
The estate feels that image Pepsi used was so close to Clarke's The Lick/Mouth that it violates the photographer's copyright.
The "Put Pepsi to the taste" campaign was created by advertising agency KLP Euro RSCG and was designed to show consumer reaction to tasting the drink. Pepsi's lawyers said that people were asked to send in images of their reactions which were then uploaded to its website.
A representative for Bob Carlos Clarke's estate said: 'We are gathering evidence ... and are willing to fight all the way over this infringement.'
Charles Swan from media law firm Swan Turton said the burden of copyright infringement is on the photographer's estate and it is a grey area: 'Copyright will only protect originality,' he said and continued that this claim could go either way as Clarke's image of a tongue and mouth, however striking and beautiful, involves 'a relatively commonplace subject matter'.
Mr Swan also said that if KLP Euro RSCG did knowingly copy the image then there should be a paper trail.
Pepsi Co. declined to comment.
