The Conservative Party has agreed to pay an artist who threatened legal action after it used his illustration of Andy Burnham without permission to mock the prime minister. Stanley Chow, a Manchester-based illustrator, posted on Facebook that the party had used the picture, which Burnham has used on social media, without his consent.
Chow sought legal advice and threatened to sue the party. It is understood the Conservatives agreed to pay a £1,000 fee for use of the image and contributed an unknown sum towards Chow's legal costs.
The party had distributed water bottles featuring the image at its conference, accusing Burnham of being a "bottler". The original image of Andy Burnham was created by Chow in 2021.
In his Facebook post, Chow wrote: "The Conservative Party have settled after their recent indiscretion of using my image without my permission." He added: "Maybe ask first… admittedly I would have said no, but it would have been a damn sight cheaper for the Tory Party if they just hired any illustrator to do their take on a cartoon of Burnham… hopefully this a lesson learned. Copyright matters."
A Conservative spokesman said: "The Conservative Party values the importance of intellectual property in the creative industries. We consider this matter closed."
Chow, a Labour supporter and Manchester United fan, has previously created images of footballers including Wayne Rooney, Edgar Davids and Ronaldinho. He has also exhibited a series of portraits of "Great Northerners", featuring actress Maxine Peake, suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and poet Lemn Sissay, and recently curated an art trail for the Brit Awards' arrival in his home city. He has also drawn Eric Cantona and presented a picture of Sir Alex Ferguson to the former Red Devils manager.
The incident highlights the importance of respecting intellectual property, especially for political parties that rely on creative works. Chow's case serves as a reminder that artists have rights and will take action if their work is used without permission.
