fabian mosele bakes 'copyright proof cakes' to trick article 13 algorithms

in response to the EU’s ‘directive on copyright in the digital single market’ containing the infamous article 13, artist fabian mosele has created ‘copyright proof cakes’ with cartoon themed icing that doesn’t get recognized by upload filters. the new legislation, which was carried out in 2019 and will be implemented in 2021, will make each and every website accountable for their user-generated content to not contain copyrighted works. envisioned to help creators have better control over their works across the internet, the controversial move will mark big changes to online copyright.

all images courtesy of fabian mosele

with this in mind, mosele has turned his attention to children’s birthday cakes. spurned by the fact that parents will no longer be able to share a photo of a cake with a famous cartoon character on it, the artist has created a series of distorted cakes in an effort to bypass being detected by computer algorithms. by showing beloved figures gnarled and contorted, the project evokes an uncomfortable sense of being in a dystopian nightmare. 

aiming to bring humour to a serious issue, mosele has looked at one of the most advanced copyright algorithms there is on the web: content id. inspired by tests conducted in 2009 by scott smitelli to understand how content id detects copyright, mosele has created a youtube channel where he tweaked some variables that would make videos undetectable. by making some changes to the media, like adding noise, manipulating the pitch or the speed, it became unrecognizable to the system. with the idea of an adaptive and evolving web, the artist created the cakes to imagine what the internet would look like after article 13 – a dystopian world, where this legislation will affect every aspect of our lives.

project info:

project name: ‘copyright proof cakes’

artist: fabian mosele

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom