Billie Eilish’s new art contest panned by critics as “free labor”Billie Eilish’s new art contest panned by critics as “free labor”
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Interscope Records
Billie Eilish may have had the best of intentions when launching her new art contest with Adobe, where a grand prize winner would be the designer of her new tour t-shirt and get hooked up with $10,000, but the competition is falling flat among critics.
Professional artists have spoken out against the contest and are using their social media platforms to tell aspiring creatives not to enter Billie’s contest. Among the naysayers is TikTok user meganroseruiz, a popular illustrator, who shared a video Thursday — that’s already amassed over a million views — where she called the contest “exploitative and dangerous.”
There are two main criticisms about Billie’s contest — one being that people won’t be paid fairly for their work and the other being that artists will be giving Billie or Adobe the rights to their work, meaning they’ll be able to “take [your design] and put it on merchandise without paying you, even if you don’t win,” which meganroseruiz claims is laid out in the contest’s Terms of Service.
Other artists condemned Billie because the contest asks her fans to design an official piece of merchandise for free. These artists argue that, while fans may be tempted by the idea of working with Billie and gaining exposure by being featured on her platform, they should be paid fairly for their time and effort.
Billie nor Adobe have responded to the mounting criticism.
(Note: Linked TikTok contains uncensored profanity)
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