HBO '˜remove' autistic Nottinghamshire girl's artwork as it breaches Winter is Coming copyright

A Nottinghamshire dad has slammed HBO bosses after they demanded his autistic daughter's artwork be removed from the internet as it contained the words 'Winter is Coming'.
The artwork was removed from arts and craft website RedBubble.The artwork was removed from arts and craft website RedBubble.
The artwork was removed from arts and craft website RedBubble.

Jonathan Wilcox, of Edwinstowe, says the painting, posted by his 13-year-old daughter on arts and crafts website RedBubble, was taken down after HBO lawyers argued it breached copyright of the show’s trademark phrase.

He told the Register: “HBO should get a life or stick something where the sun doesn’t shine.

“My daughter, who happens to be autistic, was doing an art challenge called Huevember which consisted of doing a piece of art based on a different colour as you worked your way round a colour wheel.

“She was uploading her pictures to a variety of sites and sharing them on Facebook. For this particular piece, she decided to title it ‘winter is coming.’

“I do not believe she uploaded the picture to RedBubble to make any particular financial gain, she just thought it a sensible place to put it.”

John said Redbubble obeyed HBO’s demand and forwarded him a copy of the takedown notice. He investigated on the web and found some artists on Etsy had also received the letter.

RedBubble said the website had a “legal obligation” to act on takedown notices under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.