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When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York on December 4, it sparked a national conversation about how health insurance companies regularly deny patients life-saving treatments. Many people even celebrated the alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, 26, who is awaiting extradition to New York from where he was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. But UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, appears to be using a peculiar tactic to fight anyone who celebrates Mangione online.
Internet users have created tributes to Mangione, ranging from songs to t-shirts. But a design in favor of Mangione is no longer available on the Internet because UnitedHealth Group filed a copyright complaint against him under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The painting has been removed from Teepublic, which allows artists to sell their own designs on products such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. But it’s unclear how UnitedHealth could claim to have rights to something that doesn’t involve its intellectual property.
The design, which you can see below, does not include any UnitedHealth logo or anything that could be construed as a trademark or trade dress owned by the healthcare giant. It is a watercolor painting by Mangione, clearly inspired by one of the security camera images released by the police. Mangione is surrounded by a heart, but again, there is nothing that appears to have anything to do with UnitedHealth.
The creator of this image told Gizmodo that it is “pretty absurd” because she doesn’t understand how UnitedHealthcare could have any copyright claims on it. Rachel Kenaston, 36 years old. filmmaker and comedianShe said she was inspired by what she calls the solidarity shown by the working class after the shooting.
“I live in Brooklyn but grew up in Vienna, West Virginia, so I experienced firsthand how the working class is struggling in rural and urban areas,” Kenaston told Gizmodo via email. “Luigi is a folk hero to me, I grew up learning about the Mine Wars and how heroes risk their lives to fight corporate exploitation.”
Mine Wars is a reference to the labor actions of the 1910s in West Virginia, where coal miners demanded better wages and working conditions. The police and mine owners tried to subdue the workers through violence, and the workers fought back.
Kenaston said he did not expect any sort of intellectual property claim to be made and told Gizmodo that he was filing a countersuit to the copyright notice.
“For my design, I chose to paint Luigi with watercolor and use pretty pastel colors to appeal to feminine sensibilities,” Kenaston said. “Honestly, I was hoping they would pull the design for condoning violence or something, but it seemed really crazy to me that UnitedHealth Group Inc would claim to have intellectual rights to an image of Luigi.”
Kenaston has its own problems with the US healthcare system, which is known for being the most expensive in the world and for offering much worse health outcomes than other wealthy countries.
“A few years ago I had a very serious bone tumor in my ribs. I underwent five chest reconstructive surgeries at Memorial Sloan Kettering and without the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid in New York I would not be able to afford any of the treatments,” Kenaston told Gizmodo. “I’m missing three ribs and now have chronic pain, so unfortunately I have a lot of experience in the healthcare industry and have empathized with Luigi’s struggle with back pain.”
Kenaston explained how his upbringing in a city polluted by big business has also shaped his perspective on these issues.
“In my hometown, DuPont is responsible for pouring C8 into our water supply and causing thousands of deaths from cancer and other health problems,” Kenaston said. “It is extremely frustrating to know that companies are responsible for so many deaths and that the only justice Americans can expect is a paltry fine.”
Kenaston has other designs available online, including watercolors of dogs and cats along with more political art like a Donald Trump-themed “Dick-tator” design. In that case, Trump’s body appears to be a scrotum made of a potato.
GoFundMe has shut down at least two fundraisers for Mangione as public interest in his case has become widespread. And a woman was arrested and charged last week after allegedly saying the words “delay, deny, depose” to her health insurance company that had denied her coverage. And there are reportedly already several documentaries about Mangione. in the worksincluding one from Alex Gibney, director of Taxi to the dark sidewhich won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2008.
UnitedHealth Group did not respond to emailed questions Monday about how the company could claim a copyright violation had occurred. Gizmodo will update this post if we receive a response.
