Canada Games artist suing host society and car dealerships over alleged copyright infringement

A Prince George artist is taking the Prince George Winter Games Host Society and three car dealerships to court over her logo design.

Jennifer Pighin says she's entitled to $25,000 for artwork redistribution and copyright infringement.

A logo she designed for the Host Society was applied to cars at three dealerships, and later sold for a profit.

Pighin says she did not give permission for the dealerships to use the designs.

Pighin thinks a lot of artists don't know what rights they have when they produce artwork for others.

"I had a lot of internal angst of whether I go forward with this or not, but in the end, I chose to do it because I kind of feel like I have to stand up for all the people that have had their work taken and used in places where it shouldn't be used," she says.

Fred Nelson is the General Manager for Prince George Motors.

He says the Canada Winter Games gave the dealership permission to use the logos.

But logo designer Jennifer Pighin says she was left out of that decision, and she was cheated her out of her right to be paid as an artist.

Pighin says the money she's asking for should cover the costs of copyright infringement.

The Prince George Winter Games Host Society did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.