The publisher of Dick Brunas creation Miffy is disgruntled by an exhibition by the Chinese artist Feng Feng. It stuck a beak on the fictional rabbit and is now exhibiting with it in the multimillion-city of Guangzhou.
Mercis Publishing believes that the artist has gone too far. “This is much more than inspired by , they are exactly the same images but with a beak instead of a cross,” says Director Marja Kerkhof. “And it is not someone who sits in an attic room, it is a professor who is familiar with the art world and can know that the images are copyrighted.”
Fans outraged.
Miffy has been a well-known character in China for many years. Cemetery received many messages after the opening of the exhibition. “From publishers, but also from consumers. Fans who were outraged.” The publisher sent artist Feng Feng a letter, alerting him to plagiarism.
Feng Feng says in Chinese media hes not doing anything wrong. According to him, “commercial symbols belong to public knowledge and information”. According to RTV Utrecht, Feng Feng has been working for decades with the concept of rabbit duck, an optical illusion that resembles a duck or rabbit, depending on how you turn the image.
Publisher Cemetery now says to await the answer of Feng Feng. “As far as it is satisfactory, we will take further steps.” According to her, it happens more often that the statue of Miffy is used by third parties. “We dont always get into action, but this is too big to pass.”