Lawvere Art
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For 25 years Kreator has sold merchandise using Philip Lawvere's original paintings. Their best selling design is the PTK cover that was not commissioned by them, as Mille states in this interview:
Whose concept was the cover artwork for Pleasure to Kill?
Petrozza: Phil Lawvere. It was not even supposed to be our album cover. It was just one of his paintings.
(click for full interview)
Their Demon Mascot grew from that painting, and continued with the bridge in Terrible Certainty, and the carved forehead of the Demon etc. - all seen on T-shirts around the world now for years. Finally after the sales of hundreds of thousands of T-Shirts, he decided to contact them about instituting an industry standard royalties contract:
"I asked no more than any cover artist would receive, and offered to forget the entire 25 years of sales up until my notice of copyright. Their producer and ex manager Karl Walterbach refused to discuss it, warning me not to disturb the band, and was really arrogant and even insulting."
"Hello Pilipp, You are getting on our nerves. Mille will not respond to your absurd & ridiculous claim. if you think it has substance go ahead and start legal action. karl"
"They'e hoping I'll be afraid of an expensive lawsuit against them. Even if I spent years, and thousands of dollars, they can afford lawyers far more powerful than I ever could... but they can't buy public opinion, or the truth..."
So, he decided to tell the story to the fans, and ask their opinion. What would you do in his place? Please add your comment on his Facebook post - you can read the early responses here.
The official site of Fantasy Illustrator and cover artist Philip Lawvere. This site features his famous work for Kreator, Deathrow, and Celtic Frost in the 1980s, as well as more about him.
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