Salt Bae Is Sprinkled With $5M Lawsuit For Unauthorized Art In Restaurants
Image via Erdal Mahir Curan / Shutterstock.com
A Brooklyn-based artist has filed a lawsuit against Nusret Gökçe, more famously known as Salt Bae, over an artwork of the restauranteur sprinkling salt in his signature style.
The copyright infringement lawsuit was filed on Monday in the Southern District of New York by William Hicks, who is asking for US$5 million in damages.
According to the complainant, Gökçe used his artwork without permission for menus, takeout bags, wipes, menu displays, and digital signs at steakhouses in Turkey, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates. Hicks claimed Gökçe did not seek permission to use the art in the aforementioned places and has not compensated him for it either.
The document also states that Gökçe commissioned Hicks back in September 2017 to design a mural of him during his famous pose for a Miami-based Nusr-Et Steakhouse. More artworks were commissioned and put into steakhouses in New York, Dubai and Istanbul.
After Gökçe put up the installations at those restaurant locations through legitimate means, Hicks learned that the restauranteur had printed the artwork in early 2020 without obtaining the appropriate license.
A cease-and-desist letter was reportedly sent in April 2020. Per the dispute, Gökçe and his companies responded by “[doubling] down on their already widespread infringement, expanding their willful use of the Infringing Materials to locations in Doha, D Maris Bay (Turkey), Boston, Dallas and several additional locations in Istanbul.”
[via Eater New York, cover image via Erdal Mahir Curan / Shutterstock.com]
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