Tom Edwards has been painting farting unicorns on coffee mugs for years. The Evergreen potter often paired the flatulent mythical creature with the words, "Electric cars are good for the environment -- because electricity comes from magic." It was that phrase that caught the eye of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Not long after, Edwards' cartoon appeared in Tesla cars on the vehicle's sketchpad app as well as on the company's customer Christmas cards -- without Edwards' permission.
Edwards talked to Colorado Matters about his battle with the billionaire Musk to be fairly compensated for his art. The potter hasn't filed a lawsuit and doesn't plan to, as copyright infringement cases can be time consuming and expensive. He did have a lawyer send Tesla a letter requesting an open dialogue. Meanwhile, Edwards' daughter Robin (also known as the punk musician Lisa Prank) tweeted at Musk. He replied back at first, but then deleted his tweets and blocked Edwards' daughter.
