By JESSICA HERNDON
AP Film Writer
LOS ANGELES
There may be legal ramifications for Shia LaBeouf after he acknowledged borrowing from another artist’s work without giving proper credit.
LaBeouf debuted his short film, “Howard Cantour.com,” online on Monday starring Jim Gaffigan. It examines the life of an anguished online film critic. That was also the story line of a 2007 graphic novella by artist Daniel Clowes titled “Justin M. Damiano.”
Clowes declined to comment directly, but according to his publisher, Fantographics’ Eric Reynolds, Clowes “is exploring his legal options.”
Reynolds said Wednesday he was “baffled” by the news of LaBeouf’s project, which he and Clowes got wind of on Monday.
LaBeouf’s short began to circulate in 2012 at festivals like the Cannes Film Festival, but was just posted online officially on Monday. Soon afterward, it was taken down, and LaBeouf took to Twitter to apologize for lifting ideas from Clowes’ work and passing them off as his own.
Under the handle (at)thecampaignbook, LaBeouf said, “Copying isn’t particularly creative work. Being inspired by someone else’s idea to produce something new and different IS creative work.”
Reynolds added that LaBeouf has not made any attempts to reach out to Clowes directly to apologize. “As far as I know the only comments he has given were those late night Twitter comments a few nights ago,” said Reynolds.
LaBeouf’s rep declined to comment further when reached by The Associated Press.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jessica Herndon on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/SomeKind
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