Axel Scheffler, illustrator of "The Gruffalo," considers suing AI companies

For years, the illustrations created by Axel Scheffler have captured the hearts of countless children. This book, The Gruffalo, written by London-born children's author Julia Donaldson, tells the story of a little mouse who outwits a monster.

"I have already contacted a German lawyer," Scheffler said. "Illustrators have already sued AI companies, and I am seriously assessing litigation. I just want them to stop this behavior." The artist, who lives in south London, has not yet disclosed the names of the companies he plans to sue.

Scheffler himself does not use a smartphone. He said he had originally intended to ignore AI until someone showed him that his best-known characters had been reproduced by AI in various settings, including Silicon Valley and Oktoberfest. "I was very shocked. What is in the picture is clearly my mouse, my Gruffalo; the AI imitated my style as closely as possible, but the rest of the image was generated. This is clearly copyright theft," he said.

Scheffler is considering filing a lawsuit in Germany because he believes EU regulations are friendlier to creators. Nick Buckland, an intellectual property lawyer at the London law firm Lewis Silkin, agrees that Germany is a viable path for creators seeking to defend their rights. "There have already been two rulings in Germany: a music copyright collective management organization won, proving that AI companies copied and presented lyrics verbatim," he told the BBC.

But he also pointed out that proving copyright infringement is not easy. Although owning highly recognizable characters such as the Gruffalo gives Scheffler an advantage in his case, he still needs to prove that his copyright has been infringed. "Generative AI does not copy directly; it trains," Buckland explained. "This is also the core logic behind AI companies' claim that they have not infringed copyright. For example, if a user wants a picture of a dog, the AI scans millions of dog images in its training database and then generates an image to return to the user."

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has already been sued in Germany by Penguin Random House and by the author and illustrator Ingo Siegner. The plaintiffs accuse OpenAI of misappropriating the children's picture book character "Der kleine Drache Kokosnuss." The Munich Regional Court will rule on the case in spring 2027.

An OpenAI spokesperson responded: "We are having productive conversations with copyright holders around the world, supporting creative activity, including fan works, while protecting intellectual property and properly handling copyright complaints." The California-based company says its models are trained on diverse sources and that copyright holders can directly submit infringement disputes.

For Scheffler, this matter is not only about The Gruffalo, which has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, but also about all creators. He said the purpose of the lawsuit is not to seek compensation, but to provide protection for creators now and in the future.

Other artists are likewise worried that AI will harm their livelihoods. Ivy Deng, who is pursuing a master's degree in painting at the Royal College of Art, said: "From a regulatory perspective, I feel my work is not adequately protected under fair use rules. But I have confidence in the art industry and its supporters: they can distinguish between the thought and effort of handmade creation and an image generated by AI in an instant; the two are fundamentally different."

Professor James Coupe, head of the AI program at the Royal College of Art, believes Scheffler's action makes this discussion more valuable. "People often simplify the debate into embracing AI or resisting AI, but that ignores the more crucial question: who is shaping this technology, and whose interests it serves. Art has important value here—not that artists all need to become technologists, but that artistic practice can question the assumptions, values and power paradigms that technology imposes on us."

Last June, the UK government announced plans to invest 2 billion pounds in AI by 2030 to unlock the technology's transformative potential. Buckland believes the government needs to find a balance between protecting the creative industries and developing the AI industry: "Obviously, if you want to maximize the return on AI investment, it is easy to loosen regulation. The government is in a difficult position and needs to find a middle path."

A spokesperson for the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the government does not see supporting the creative industries and supporting AI development as an either-or choice: "We have engaged extensively with creators, AI companies, industry associations, trade unions, academics and AI users. Copyright law must both consolidate the UK's position as a creative powerhouse and unlock the enormous potential of AI innovation to drive the economy and benefit the public."

Even so, Scheffler and his publisher are still discussing whether to formally file a lawsuit in his home country, Germany. In the illustrator's view, the value of the work itself is the core of the discussion. "AI can never replace hand-drawn images; something will always be missing. I encourage everyone to keep drawing by hand and preserve this tradition; once AI becomes widespread, handmade creation may be valued more."