Article 4: Meme Laundering — How Brands Hide IP Theft in Internet Culture. 4 of 6 - Star Wars Edition.

Marc Morgenstern
Feb 10
2 min read

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ce7c97_2d06caa3e8f84a3587fba1ccd24e1a4d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Powertechi has used the meme from Disney & Lucasfilm's multi Billion Dollar Franchise Star Wars to sell their product and have the nerve to use words like Real Industry Experts and Validate.

Rarely does a brand directly take an image from an artist’s own portfolio. Instead, the infringement is often obscured through layers of reposting, cropping, giving them plausible deniability. This practice is known as “meme laundering”.

The Aggregator Pipeline

Many brands source memes from:

• Instagram meme pages

• Reddit reposts

• Pinterest boards

• Screenshot compilations

By the time the image reaches a company’s marketing department, its origin has been deliberately blurred.

Allwhere.co has done the same thing with their product.

Cropping as Camouflage

Any watermarks are removed and Credit is cropped out and resolution is lowered. Each step distances the image from its creator while still preserving its recognizability.

Agency Shielding

Brands often outsource social content to agencies or freelancers, then later feigning ignorance. But outsourcing does not eliminate their liability. Responsibility follows publication, not intent.

“We Found It Online”

This phrase appears repeatedly in infringement disputes. It certainly is not a defense. The internet is not a free for all where ownership disappears.

Replicated also used the same meme. As a Marketing Director, you would think that they would want to position their product in a unique light, and not just use a popular meme, and one that is used by so many companies.

Why This Persists

Meme laundering thrives because it works and has become ubiquitous. The farther an image travels from the artist, the harder it is for the creators to track — thus the easier it is for brands to exploit.