The three Prince George auto dealerships cited in a small claims lawsuit immediately agreed to artist Jennifer Pighin's demand to cease selling vehicles with her design on them when a letter was received from a lawyer, Wood Wheaton Auto Group president Craig Wood said Friday.
Up until that point, Wood said Wood Wheaton was under the impression there were no problems with its use and were unaware of Pighin's involvement in the artwork.
Wood Wheaton had supplied about 100 vehicles for use during the Games, each of them decorated with decal work that incorporated a design from Pighin, who also created the design for the Game's medals.
According to a statement of claim filed this week by Pighin, that was fine with her - the trouble began when the vehicles were put up for sale following the Games.
Pighin alleges that contravened an agreement she had with the Prince George 2015 Canada Winter Games Host Society allowing the organization to use her work "non-commercially."
Only when Wood Wheaton received the letter from the lawyer, Martha Rans, who is the legal director for Artists' Legal Outreach in Vancouver, was the company aware there was a problem, according to Wood.
"We had understood that the vehicles could be sold with the decals as a legacy piece of the Games," Wood said.
With that letter in hand, "we immediately removed the disputed decals from the vehicles."
By that point "I think there might have been two sold," Wood said.
Wood said he has not yet seen Pighin's claim, which was filed at the Prince George courthouse on Wednesday. The defendants have 21 days to respond from the day they have been served the claim.
Host society spokesman Mike Davis declined to comment.
"We will not be providing comment on a legal matter," Davis said.
Reached Friday, Rans said she had written at least a half-dozen cease and desist letters this year on behalf of artists around B.C.
"There is a lack of knowledge about how copyright works," Rans said.
Reached Friday, Pighin, who is seeking a total of $25,000 in compensation, said she's glad the awareness surrounding artists' rights is getting out there.
"That's the biggest thing right now," she said.
