Court Artist Wins Damages After PVV Politician Used AI to Distort Her Work
TheHague – Petra Urban, a Dutch court artist, has received damages from far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) MP Maikel Boon after he used one of her drawings without permission and manipulated it using artificial intelligence.
The Incident
The drawing in question depicted two Syrian brothers jailed for the murder of their sister. Boon altered the image to make the subjects appear more menacing and used it in a video posted on Instagram and Facebook by the PVV's Noord-Brabant region.
Urban’s Three Concerns
Urban stated three specific objections to the use of her work:
- Unauthorized use: Her work was used without asking permission.
- Political usage: The use by a political party compromised her neutrality.
- AI distortion: The image was distorted using AI, which she described as "really strange."
"There are three things that upset me. One is that my work was used without asking my permission. Secondly, this was done for a political party, when I want to work as neutrally and independently as possible. And thirdly – and this makes it really strange – the distortion was done with AI."
Legal Grounds
Dutch law protects creators' moral rights, which includes the right to object to distortion of their work that could harm their reputation. After Urban's union issued a legal demand, Boon apologized and paid damages (the amount has not been disclosed).
Politician’s Response
Boon told De Telegraaf that he believed the altered image would no longer be subject to copyright, calling his action a "very stupid act." The video about a new asylum centre has since been removed from the internet.
A Warning About Manipulated Content
Urban, who has worked as a court artist for 19 years, emphasized the broader implications of the case.
"I hope it’s clear that this is a worrying development and that we need to stay alert. You need to be able to assume that journalistic work is written, drawn, photographed or filmed as neutrally as possible. If this is manipulated, then the flood gates are open. There’s no knowing where it will end."
She also clarified that the issue was not with the party itself, but with the violation of her professional independence.
"Honestly, the PVV is a long way from my political views, but even if it had been closer to my own politics I would not have wanted this. It compromises my neutrality."
Background
The case gained widespread press coverage after Urban shared the images with fellow court reporters in May. This is not the first time Boon has faced scrutiny over AI-manipulated imagery; he had previously been accused of using AI to manipulate images for campaign purposes.