John Lewis has prevailed in a legal dispute with an author who alleged that the shop stole one of her designs for an advertisement.
The 2019 Christmas advertisement for the department store featured a fire-breathing yet friendly green dragon named Edgar.
Fay Evans of Macclesfield, Cheshire, stated that Edgar had a “startling” similarity to her character, Fred the Fire-Sneezing Dragon.
But, a High Court judge concluded on Monday that there was no proof that the advertising team was aware of her activities.
After the first airing of the commercial in November 2019, Ms. Evans stated on social media that it was based on her narrative.
The self-published children’s author sued both John Lewis and the ad’s creative agency, Adam & Eve DDB.
John Lewis and the agency contested the claim at a January hearing, stating that there were “many and substantial variations” between Ms. Evans’ book and the advertisement.
The retailer stated that no one engaged in the production of the advertisement or a spin-off book titled Excitable Edgar was aware of Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon.
In addition, the two companies stated that the ad was based on a concept that was initially proposed to John Lewis in 2016 and ultimately selected in 2019. The illustrated book by Ms. Evans was published in 2017.
Both tales include dragons that struggle to fit in due to their ability to breathe fire.
In the John Lewis advertisement, Excited Edgar is seen melting a child’s snowman, setting Christmas decorations on fire, and melting a hole in an ice rink.
Fred struggles to manage his fire-breathing at school in Ms. Evans’ story but is eventually encouraged to use his ability to cook meals for his classmates.
Attorneys for Ms. Evans acknowledged that the advertisement was created a year before the publication of her book, but maintained that other aspects not included in the 2016 outline violated her copyright nevertheless.
The court heard that as of October 31, 2019, only 914 copies of Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon had been sold, with over 700 of those copies resulting from visits to elementary schools.
However, Mrs. Justice Clarke stated that there was “not a shred of proof” that John Lewis or the agency had seen Ms. Evans’ tale before the beginning of the legal battle.
While the judge accepted both stories centered on “a benevolent dragon that struggles to contain its fire,” she found that they are “absolutely typical characteristics, nearly universal in depictions of dragons.”
The similarities between Fred The Fire-Sneezing Dragon and Excitable Edgar are few and can be easily explained by chance as opposed to plagiarism.
She continued,
“There can be no copying if the alleged copied work has not been accessible (or viewed, in this case) by the putative copyists.”
“I am convinced by the preponderance of the evidence that there was no copying.”
Mrs. Justice Clarke ordered Ms. Evans to post the verdict on her website, which the author had previously utilized to publicize the dispute.
A representative for John Lewis and Adam & Eve DDB stated,
“We take great delight and attention in our Christmas advertisement and are pleased that the judge acknowledged Excitable Edgar’s originality.
“We are delighted that the dispute has been resolved after the court determined that there was no infringement of copyright.”
Following the verdict, Ms. Evans stated,
“I look forward to writing more unique children’s stories and developing Fred The Musical for its premiere at the Liverpool Theatre Festival in July 2023.”
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