In December 2022, Autumn Smith received a picture of what looked like her artwork — a self-portrait with her grandmother impressed by a memory of the working day her grandmother gave her a traditional name — only it wasn’t her portray.
It was a post from Wasauksing First Nation artist Tyler Rushnell’s Instagram account. Smith states Rushnell copied her get the job done but changed the vegetation in his variation.
“To see any individual else take that devoid of understanding the tale and the relationship that we all had to it, it really is hurtful. I was extremely damage when I saw that,” mentioned Smith.
Smith said in her portray, she needed to honour the teachings she gained about starting to be a female and her regular title. She’s from Magnetawan First Country just south of Sudbury, Ont.
The painted sky and tobacco plants flanking the two girls in Smith’s painting represent that title: ishpimiing nibi waabo, “the place in the sky exactly where the h2o comes from.”
“He took out all the spirit and that means in there,” Smith stated.
Smith reported there are about 10 other artists who consider their artwork was plagiarized by Rushnell.
“I despatched him a message all around the starting of December, and I said, ‘Hey, I noticed that there had been that some of your artwork seems really comparable to the artwork of other artists. Can you tell me what that is about?'”
In Fb messages between Smith and an account showing up to belong to Rushnell, Rushnell acknowledged the similarities, admitted his naiveté as an emerging artist and reported he was mastering about his Indigenous culture.
He apologized, promised to credit history artists and reported he appreciated Smith for letting him to accurate his problems.


Smith explained that pretty much a thirty day period later she sent Rushnell yet another letter on behalf of the artists’ collective indicating they believed he had plagiarized their get the job done.
“I experienced genuinely hoped that we could resolve this individually, that we could converse to every single other and occur to an understanding and do the job towards a much better long term,” reported Smith.
The artists contacted by CBC News explained they are not at the moment seeking lawful action against Rushnell.
Rushnell did not answer to an e-mail trying to find confirmation he’d messaged with Smith or received the artists’ collective letter.
Smith said she believes Rushnell is a talented artist and counseled some of his more recent artwork, which “reflects his individual design and style.”
Joshua Pawis-Steckley, also from Wasauksing First Nation, said designs Rushnell did for the Toronto Maple Leafs Indigenous Celebration Games on Jan. 7-8 appeared to be traced from his work for the Toronto Raptors’ Indigenous Heritage Night.


Pawis-Steckley and Rushnell worked with the same structure groups from Maple Leaf Sports and Enjoyment (MLSE).
Pawis-Steckley contacted the design staff to see if they recognized the similarities in between the artwork. He said MLSE agreed to remove the floral layouts in issue from their social media and site.
CBC Information achieved out to MLSE for comment and vice-president of communications Dave Haggith verified operating with the two artists but declined to remark additional about the allegations towards Rushnell.
Pawis-Steckley said he’s conscious of the group of artists who’ve alleged Rushnell’s patterns are tracings of other artists’ operate.
“We’re applying the very same dark, weighty outlines and the similar colors for the most part, but we’re telling distinct tales,” Smith said of the Woodland artwork type.
“A whole lot of Woodland art is very own to us.”
Likely legal implications
CBC News designed various attempts to attain Rushnell over social media and by way of e mail. He declined to comment about the allegations in opposition to his function.
“Lawful motion is [taking] area, no terms to communicate thank you,” Rushnell’s emailed statement to CBC News explained.
“If they claimed I stole their artwork they should really acquire lawful motion like a regular human staying.”
Rushnell informed CBC News they would be blocked. Artists who’ve complained their art was plagiarized told CBC Information Rushnell blocked them soon after they attempted to get in touch with him.
April Britski, countrywide director of Canadian Artists Representation, a non-profit group that represents Canadian visual artists, said original will work of residing artists are protected less than Canadian copyright, whilst there are some restrictions.
“The dilemma is that it can be prohibitively pricey for artists to protect their legal rights — primarily if it is regularly happening,” reported Britski.
Statutory damages range from $500 to $20,000 for each perform beneath Canada’s Copyright Act though court fees can be between $125,000 and $200,000, said Meika Ellis.
Ellis, who is a member of the Gwich’in Fort McPherson band, is a law firm at Ridout & Maybee LLP, a legislation organization in Ottawa, and practises intellectual assets law.
Ellis said if an artist draws an eagle and an additional artist draws the exact eagle, with very similar colouring manufacturing a equivalent portray, that would be copyright infringement.
Copyright legislation, she explained, has not been litigated significantly in Canada and is more of a vague location of regulation than patent or trademark legislation, on the other hand.
She said any person having accusations of copyright infringement to court would need to show their function was copied and if it was sold, proof it was bought.
Anybody using get the job done without consent from the original proprietor to reproduce, create, translate, or promote, could slide into Copyright Act infringements, Ellis explained.
CBC News offered Ellis the information it uncovered about the artists’ collective allegations towards Rushnell and asked whether it would qualify as a copyright infringement.
“If all he’s performing is what it appears like — he’s pulling someone else’s painting and then adding his own flourishes to it — he is even now infringing the other party’s portray and the other occasion does have a suitable to treatments under the Copyright Act,” Ellis claimed.
She said artists can consider to shield themselves by earning their possession apparent, by way of marking their perform with a copyright image.
She prompt artists getting into into contracts with companies clearly assert their ownership in any agreements they make.
“We need to educate persons that Indigenous artwork is not a little something to be taken,” Ellis said.
“There is certainly this mentality in the colonial mindset that Indigenous expertise and just about anything connected cultural expressions are there for the having since Indigenous people today are ‘artifacts’ by themselves.”