'We need to talk': Penang mural artist calls out AirAsia over use of his work

Penang-based Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic has called out AirAsia for using his mural featuring children on a bicycle mural its plane. In an Instagram story, the artist posted a photo of an AirAsia plane with his mural with the accompanying caption "I think we need to talk". He also tagged AirAsia's Instagram account, as well as CEO Tony Fernandes. 

When A+M reached out, Zacharevic said, "AirAsia has a history of using my work in their marketing campaigns for over a decade now. I have never been paid or credited by AirAsia, and it is undermining not only my copyrights but the rights and integrity of entire arts community in Malaysia."

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The artist is currently seeking monetary retribution from the Airline. In addition, he is seeking commitment to credit license all the artworks they use in their future marketing campaigns. Zacharevic said that he has been approached by AirAsia's branding department and are currently in talks to resolve the issue. 

Moving forward, the artist aims to continue the conversation with AirAsia "until a common agreement is found", he told A+M. A+M has reached out to AirAsia for a statement. 

This isn't the first time an artist has called out bigger corporations and entities for using artworks without consent. 

In a similar incident in 2020, Singaporean comic artist Evangeline Neo called out Johor based authorities for using one of her comic strips without credit or permission.

In a Facebook post, Neo said she was notified by a Malaysian living in Johor that her artwork was being used for mask distribution collateral, without her knowledge nor credit. In a picture posted her Facebook page, it showed that Neo's artwork, which was done in February, was used to educate Malaysians on how to dispose their masks after use. The instructions also included a trash bin picture that was not in Neo's original artwork.

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