Nigel Farage has deleted a post using Andy Burnham’s portrait after the artist launched legal action for using it to push “anti-immigration” messaging
Stanley Chow whose portrait of Andy Burnham has been used on Burnham’s by election literature said: “My work has been used without permission to share a message that I fundamentally disagree with”
Chow says he was not consulted or asked for permission and has now instructed law firm Brabners to seek redress on the basis of copyright infringement
A Reform UK spokesman said: “We maintain that the use of the material amounts to fair use and that this legal action is politically motivated. However, we have removed the posts in good faith and without any admission of liability on our part”
Chow said: “For me, this is straightforward – my work has been used without permission to share a message that I fundamentally disagree with. While I am a proud Mancunian, I’m also a second-generation immigrant born and raised here to parents from Hong Kong. To see my portrait, created to represent something positive about Manchester and Andy’s vision for the city, being used without my permission to push agendas, including an anti-immigration message, is fundamentally unfair and wrong. It misrepresents what the image stands for and what I believe in. I want to be clear about that, and I want to set the record straight”
