Manga Creator Demands Payment After Elon Musk Uses Their Art
It would put things lightly right now to say Twitter is a hot mess. Following a staggeringly expensive acquisition, businessman Elon Musk is now the site's CEO. In their short time at the helm, Twitter has come under fire for everything from paywalled services to publicized disinformation. And now, a manga artist previously exploited by Musk is now demanding payment for the incident.
The ordeal came to light on Twitter as Kentaro Sato, the creator of Magical Girl Site, called out Musk in a message. The artist shared a meme originally posted by Musk in November 2022 and criticized its use of his artwork without permission.
"Twitter's new CEO Elon Musk has been posting my drawings without permission, so I'd like a usage fee of one billion. In dollars," he wrote. In a follow-up tweet, Sato went on to show where the meme's artwork of Aya Asagiri comes from, and he asked readers to support the manga by checking out its first volume.
Musk's Anime History
Of course, Magical Girl Site is not the first manga or anime peddled by Musk. Back in 2021, they took to Twitter to share several recommendations with fans. These shows includes Death Note, Your Name, Spirited Away, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and more. The businessman has even expressed interest in bankrolling real-life mecha suits a la Evangelion. But for now, it seems Musk has his hands full overseeing Twitter, Tesla, and Space X.
READ MORE: Twitter's Elon Musk Confirms Mass Lay Offs in Employee Email
As for Magical Girl Site, you can find its anime adaptation on Amazon Prime Video stateside. The series itself dates back to July 2013 as it was spawned from Magical Girl Apocalypse. For more info on the series, you can read up on its official synopsis below:
"Asagiri Aya is a young girl who has fallen victim to bullies at her school. Looking for a way to escape her troubles, she looks to the internet for distraction, when a mysterious website called "Magical Girl Site" appears. Simply viewing the page is all it takes to hurtle Aya headlong into the deadly world of the Magical Girl Apocalypse. There, it's fight or die, against a seemingly endless array of savagely adorable, frilly-skirted killing machines, each armed with magical powers and an unquenchable thirst for blood and chaos."
What do you think about Sato's demands? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
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