UnitedHealth acquires Luigi Mangione jersey pulled with copyright complaint

When Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot to death in New York on December 4, it sparked a national conversation about how health insurance companies regularly deny patients life-saving treatments. Many people even celebrate The alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, 26, is awaiting extradition to New York, where he was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. But UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, appears to be using a bizarre tactic to get back at anyone celebrating Mangione online.

Netizens have created tributes to Mangioneincluding everything from songs to t-shirts. But one pro-Mangione design isn’t available online anymore because UnitedHealth Group filed a copyright complaint against it under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The board has been removed from the website Teepublic, which allows artists to sell their own designs on merchandise such as T-shirts and sweatshirts. But it’s not clear how UnitedHealth can claim it has rights to something that doesn’t include any of its intellectual property.

The design, which you can see below, does not include any UnitedHealth logos or anything that could be construed as a trademark or image owned by the healthcare giant. It is a watercolor painting by Maggioni, clearly inspired by one Security camera images The police released him. Mangione is surrounded by heart, but again, nothing that appears to have anything to do with UnitedHealth.

The creator of this image told Gizmodo that it’s “so ridiculous” because she doesn’t understand how UnitedHealthcare would have any copyright claim over it. Rachel Kinston, 36 years old Director and comedianShe said she was inspired by what she calls the solidarity shown by the working class after the shooting

“I live in Brooklyn but grew up in Vienna, West Virginia, so I have witnessed firsthand how the working class struggles in rural and urban areas,” Kinston told Gizmodo via email. “Luigi is a folk hero of mine. I grew up learning about the Wars of Mine and how heroes risk their lives to fight corporate exploitation.”

The Mine Wars are a reference to the labor movements of the 1910s in West Virginia, where coal miners demanded better wages and working conditions. The police and mine owners tried to break the workers violently, but the workers resisted.

Kynaston said it doesn’t expect to file any kind of intellectual property claim and told Gizmodo it will file a counterclaim for the copyright notice.

“For my design, I chose to use Luigi watercolors and use beautiful pastel colors to appeal to a feminine sensibility,” Kynaston said. “I honestly expected the design to be pulled because it condones violence or something, but I found it really strange that UnitedHealth Group Inc. would claim to have any intellectual rights over Luigi’s image.”

Kynaston has its own struggles with the U.S. health care system, which has a reputation for being the most expensive in the world while providing far lower health outcomes than other wealthy countries.

“I had a very serious bone tumor in my ribs a few years ago. I’ve had 5 chest reconstructive surgeries at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and without the Affordable Care Act and New York’s Medicaid expansion, I wouldn’t be able to pay for any of the treatment,” Kinston told Gizmodo. “I’m missing three of my ribs and have chronic pain now, so unfortunately I had a lot of experience navigating healthcare and sympathized with Luigi’s struggle with back pain.”

Kynaston explained how her upbringing in a town polluted by large corporation has also shaped her perspective on these issues.

“In my hometown, DuPont is responsible for dumping carbon dioxide into our water supply and causing thousands to die of cancer and other health problems,” Kynaston said. “It is extremely frustrating to know that corporations are responsible for so many deaths and that the only justice Americans can expect is a meager fine.”

At Kenastone Other designs Available online, including watercolors of cats and dogs along with more political art such as a Donald Trump-themed “Dick-tator” design. In this case, Trump’s body looks like a scrotum made of a potato.

GoFundMe has shut down at least two Fundraising for Mangioneas public interest in his case became widespread. A woman was arrested and charged Last week After she allegedly said the words “delay, deny, deposit” to her health insurance company, which refused to cover her. There are already several documentaries about Mangione In businessincluding one from Alex Gibney, director Taxi to the dark sideWhich won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2008.

UnitedHealth Group did not respond to emailed questions Monday about how the company could claim copyright infringement. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.