Jane Rosenberg is accustomed to being around plaintiffs and defendants, but now the courtroom sketch artist might find herself on the pencil end of her own judicial rendering.
Rosenberg said Tuesday she
hired an attorney who has sent out at least four cease-and-desist orders since she discovered companies have been cashing in by placing her infamous courtroom drawing of Tom Brady on everything from mugs to
women's pencil-skirts.
“I was very surprised. I went online and Googled ‘Tom Brady sketch T-shirts,’ and a whole bunch of stuff came up that I had no clue there was,” Rosenberg said. “I had to do something about it.”
Rosenberg said businesses attempting to profit from her sketch had until noon Tuesday to remove items from their websites and store shelves.
“And if they don’t, it’s the next step,” she said, which could mean legal action. “I think it’s very dishonest for someone to sell T-shirts with my artwork. It’s too blatant. It’s a crime, and it’s just not OK. It’s my art, and someone else is making money on it without my consent.”
Rosenberg was overwhelmed by the
unwanted Internet fame she achieved after the drawing of Brady sitting in court during the Deflategate hearings went viral. People said it looked nothing like the Patriots quarterback and a meme sensation soon followed.
Rosenberg got a chance to redeem herself
and created a second sketch in the days following her first monstrous sketch. But, even then, some said the second sketch was still a bad rendition of New England's No. 1 son.
A federal judge last week dropped the four-game suspension sought by the National Football League against Brady for the Deflategate debacle.
Rosenberg, who lives in New York, owns the rights to the sketch. She hasn’t yet decided what to do with the original but told the Globe last month she has received multiple requests from people looking to purchase the drawing.
“I have no plans at the moment about what I’m going to do with it. I’m overwhelmed still, and it just keeps snowballing,” she said Tuesday.
