Tokyo Olympics Emblem Found To Look Like Belgian theater Logo

TOKYO, JAPAN - JUL. 30: The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee on Friday July 24 unveiled the official emblems of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Tokyo 2020 emblems were created to symbolize the power of unity as the world comes together for Tokyo 2020 to experience the joy of uniting as one team. But a Belgium-based designer has expressed surprise on social media that the emblem for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games unveiled last week closely resembles the logo for a theater in Liege, eastern Belgium that his studio crafted on Wednesday July 29. "I cannot judge whether it was stolen or inspired by my work. I'm consulting with my lawyer," Olivier Debie, 52, told Kyodo News on Wednesday, adding that he expects to decide within this week whether to take legal action. Debie posted on Facebook a photo of the two works side by side a few days earlier, expressing his amazement when he saw them. In a separate post, his studio also commented, "There is a striking resemblance between the two logos." The emblem for the Tokyo Olympics, produced by Kenjiro Sano, a 43-year-old Japanese art director, was unveiled Friday. It features a central column in black, which the organizing committee says was inspired by the letter T, representing Tokyo, Team and Tomorrow. The logo for Theatre de Liege has a similar shape in white against a black background. Debie's studio says it has been involved in the theater's logo design project since 2011.
TOKYO, JAPAN - JUL. 30: The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee on Friday July 24 unveiled the official emblems of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Tokyo 2020 emblems were created to symbolize the power of unity as the world comes together for Tokyo 2020 to experience the joy of uniting as one team. But a Belgium-based designer has expressed surprise on social media that the emblem for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games unveiled last week closely resembles the logo for a theater in Liege, eastern Belgium that his studio crafted on Wednesday July 29. "I cannot judge whether it was stolen or inspired by my work. I'm consulting with my lawyer," Olivier Debie, 52, told Kyodo News on Wednesday, adding that he expects to decide within this week whether to take legal action. Debie posted on Facebook a photo of the two works side by side a few days earlier, expressing his amazement when he saw them. In a separate post, his studio also commented, "There is a striking resemblance between the two logos." The emblem for the Tokyo Olympics, produced by Kenjiro Sano, a 43-year-old Japanese art director, was unveiled Friday. It features a central column in black, which the organizing committee says was inspired by the letter T, representing Tokyo, Team and Tomorrow. The logo for Theatre de Liege has a similar shape in white against a black background. Debie's studio says it has been involved in the theater's logo design project since 2011.
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Editorial #:
482791356
Collection:
Kyodo News
Date created:
July 24, 2015
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Rights-ready
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Clip length:
00:01:58:15
Location:
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
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QuickTime 8-bit Photo-JPEG HD 1920x1080 29.97p
Source:
Kyodo News
Object name:
15-07-24-2-4.mov