A Dutch court artist has been awarded damages after an MP for the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) used one of her drawings without permission, subsequently manipulating it with artificial intelligence (AI) to make the subjects appear more threatening. Petra Urban, a court artist with nearly two decades of experience, discovered her sketch of two Syrian brothers, jailed for their sister's murder, had been altered and featured in a video shared on Instagram and Facebook by the PVV's Noord-Brabant regional branch.
Ms Urban expressed significant distress over the incident, citing three primary concerns: the unauthorised use of her work, its appropriation by a political party, which she felt compromised her professional neutrality, and particularly the distortion of her art through AI. Under Dutch law, creators are not only afforded copyright protection but also possess moral rights, enabling them to object to any alteration of their work that could potentially harm their reputation.
The incident garnered considerable attention in May when Ms Urban shared the manipulated images with her colleagues, leading to widespread media coverage. Following a legal demand for licensing rights and damages issued by her union, PVV MP Maikel Boon contacted Ms Urban to offer an apology. He has since paid an undisclosed sum in damages.
Ms Urban stated that she felt compelled to demand compensation, noting that the MP had previously faced accusations of using AI to manipulate images for campaign purposes. She emphasised the worrying implications of such actions, highlighting the need for vigilance regarding the manipulation of journalistic content. Her concern is that if such practices become normalised, the integrity of neutrally produced journalistic work – whether written, drawn, photographed, or filmed – could be severely undermined.
The court artist also distanced herself from the political views of Geert Wilders' far-right party, asserting that even if their politics aligned more closely with her own, she would still have objected to the misuse of her work. She stressed that such incidents compromise the essential neutrality required in her profession. Mr Boon publicly accepted responsibility, telling Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that he mistakenly believed an altered image would no longer be subject to copyright, describing his actions as "very stupid." The video, which related to a new asylum centre, has since been removed from the internet.