Danica Davidson
November 15, 2022 
Kentaro Sato, creator of the horror manga Magical Girl Site, noticed that Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk used an image from Sato’s manga without permission or credit. Sato retweeted Musk’s use of Sato’s work in a meme, commenting, “Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk has reprinted my drawings on Twitter without permission, so please give me one billion.”
A billion yen, or about $7,190,000? No. Sato continued, to make himself clear, “In dollars.”
Twitter社新CEOイーロン・マスクがTwitterで僕の絵を無断転載してるのでとりあえず使用料10億よろしくお願いします。ドルで。 https://t.co/QXU7uLkLJB
— 佐藤健太郎@不死と罰2巻発売中 (@sato_ken_taro) November 7, 2022
It’s not known if Sato is really asking for a billion dollars from the use of his image, or if he’s joking.
For good measure, Sato showed where in his manga the image was taken. If you’re keeping track, this can be found in chapter 103 of the series.
件の絵の漫画です。#魔法少女サイト pic.twitter.com/E7cggvKWQk
— 佐藤健太郎@不死と罰2巻発売中 (@sato_ken_taro) November 8, 2022
And whether Sato is joking or not, Musk has not responded, and might not be aware of this going on. A number of people have responded to Sato, though, giving their thoughts on whether or not what Musk did is copyright infringement, or if it falls into the category of fair use. But since these are Twitter users and not lawyers educated in copyright law, it’s not going to give real answers.
Seven Seas Entertainment publishes Magical Girl Site in English, and gave this description for the first volume:
“OH WRETCHED THING, SO FULL OF WOE
TO YOU, POOR SOUL, IT’S MAGIC I BESTOWAsagiri Aya has a difficult life. The middle school girl the target of cruel bullying at school by day, and violent abuse at home by night. One day, while surfing the web, she came across a creepy figure who granted her a gift of magic power…”
The Magical Girl Site manga began in 2013 and concluded in 2019, with the story contained in sixteen volumes. Seven Seas Entertainment has published the entire series.
What do you think about the situation here?
Source: Yahoo News
____
Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
Related Posts
