English football (soccer) club, Manchester United, have been accused by the NFT community of copying the original artwork of an NFT artist. The claims are comparing the artwork from the collection released on the team’s sponsors, Tezos, to another popular artist on the same blockchain.
Quick Take:
- Manchester United have been accused of copying a Tezos-based NFT artist’s work.
- It was Twitter user, ClownVamp, who initially made these claims.
- The sports team released a collection of 7,777 NFTs for around $40 each, selling out almost instantly.
Manchester United’s NFTs: Are They Copies?
Undoubtedly, Manchester United are one of the biggest sports clubs in the world. However, recently, they have faced some controversy through their NFT collection, built on one of their sponsors, Tezos’, blockchain.
For the Premier League club, their NFT collection sold out swiftly. 7,777 pieces at around $40 each were an easy sell to the millions of supporters worldwide, clearly.
According to a thread by ClownVamp, ‘The Devils’ collection from Manchester United has clearly copied that of Des Lucréce, a well-known Tezos artist. Through comparison photos, it is understandable why they could be looked at as being extremely similar.
The collection was built by Triltech Platform Oü, the for-profit arm of the Tezos foundation. ClownVamp called out the Triltech team for a response, but never received one (publicly, anyways).
The Tweeter later found out the artist of the collection. Without calling them out fully, their OpenSea favourites were shared.
The Response
Lucréce later wrote to Twitter with a response, acknowledging the similarities between the two bodies of work. It said: “I’m not saying Manchester United was inspired by my work, but I’m not saying Manchester United wasn’t inspired by my work.”
According to a later recent Tweet, Manchester United and the artist are in correspondence to discuss the matter at hand, claiming to have had “a productive call with them”. Lucréce thanked the Tezos community for their support in even getting to this stage. This came after he was in contact with Arthur Breitman or ‘ArthurB’, the Co-Founder of Tezos. He jokingly suggested that “dinner with Ronaldo isn’t off the table” – despite the Portuguese international recently leaving the club.
The public response is in outrage. All of the NFT community seem to have a shared opinion on the situation – that Manchester United should have pre-arranged payment for the artist who rightfully created the initial aesthetic, at the very least.
Man United, nor Triltech are yet to publicly respond to the incident.
