‘This is fine’ artist KC Green reaches agreement with AI startup Artisan

In Brief

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After criticizing a startup called Artisan for misusing his work, artist KC Green — creator of the famous “This is fine” meme — said he’s reached an agreement with Artisan. 

The dispute arose after the startup appeared to use a version of Green’s art to promote its AI assistant Ava. In Artisan’s bus and subway ads, Green’s recognizable dog sat amid recognizable flames, but instead of saying “This is fine,” it declared, “My pipeline is on fire,” while the ad urged people to “Hire Ava the AI BDR.”

Earlier this month, Green posted on social media that his art had been “stolen like AI steals” and urged his followers to “vandalize” the ads if they saw them. He also told TechCrunch he was frustrated about having to “try my hand at the American court system” instead of putting that time into his comics.

Artisan, meanwhile, told us it has “a lot of respect for Green and his work.” Then, earlier this week, founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack said the two sides had come to an agreement.

When TechCrunch reached out to Green, he confirmed that they’d “reached a settlement pretty quick,” with Artisan taking down the ads in New York and San Francisco that used his character, and Green taking down his initial post.

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