Famed Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, known as Salt Bae, is facing a $5 million copyright infringement lawsuit from a US artist who alleges the restaurateur used his artwork without permission.
The latter alleged that the restaurateur and social media star has used his artwork across the world without permission, reported US media. Brooklyn artist Logan Hicks shared he and fellow artist Joseph Lurato were hired by Gokce in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to create a mural of him in his signature salt-sprinkling pose.
He revealed the same in a Manhattan federal lawsuit filed against Gokce. The court papers added that while the first artwork was featured in his Miami steakhouse, other commissioned stencils have reportedly also been spotted in the butcher’s Dubai, Doha, Istanbul and New York outposts.
In beginning 2020, Hicks discovered that Gokce and his companies had used the same image of that first work without permission internationally, in window displays, on menus and even on takeout bags, according to the suit. The images are also said to have appeared on wet wipe packaging, digital signs and the label for Salt Bae’s line of seasoning.
