Peace, love and farting unicorns.
The viral copyright battle over a Colorado artist’s farting unicorn design has finally come to an end as Tesla’s co-owner Elon Musk and Evergreen artist Tom Edwards announced they had reached a settlement over the weekend.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
The copyright squabble started in 2010 when Edwards began selling a coffee mug from his pottery business that pictured a unicorn farting into the exhaust of an electric car. The mug read “Electric cars are good for the environment because electricity comes from magic.”
Musk later got himself into trouble after tweeting how much he loved the mug in February 2017 and then used the design in the updated Tesla models later that year. By early 2018, Edwards had sought legal advice in order to fight the copyright infringement on the gassy unicorn.
A settlement wasn’t in the works until after the farting unicorn battle went viral. called the drama “the spin-off you never knew you wanted.”
While waiting for Tesla’s lawyers to reach out, Edwards used the flatulating unicorn to create a whole brand on his pottery site. He will even be featuring the design on a for the Arts Bridging The Gap street art initiative.
Edwards credits the social media and press attention for prompting Tesla’s lawyers to reach out for a settlement.
Now that the copyright battle is over, Edwards is “looking forward to getting back to making pots.”
