The Deathcore Flyer Plagiarism Battle

Update 02/25/25: Following the controversy, the band Oceano has disabled their social media accounts. The band See You Next Tuesday has pulled out of the tour, and it is unclear if the tour will happen.

The past few months have been challenging for the deathcore band Oceano, their fans and their lead singer, Adam Warren.

In November, Oceano, Attila, and two other groups announced a nationwide tour previously slated to begin in March 2025. However, shortly after the announcement, the tour became the subject of considerable controversy. Several of the musicians in the package had faced serious allegations of sexual misconduct, and Oceano faced a backlash for participating.

After learning more details, Warren opted to “quit” the band and pull out of the tour. However, before his departure, he announced one last tour. That tour was announced last week and is scheduled to start in May.

However, artist Chris Gallien noticed something strange. The flyer announcing the tour looked suspiciously close to a design he had submitted to the band and was told didn’t make the cut.

Warren, for his part, did try to make amends with Gallien. According to messages shared by Gallien, Warren paid him $100 after the scandal came to light. However, in that exchange, Warren was still dismissive of Gallien’s work, saying the amount was “beyond generous” and that he still “didn’t like it.”

When Warren shared this information in the original post’s comments, fans mocked Warren, calling it a “slap in the face.”

So, how serious is this plagiarism? To be honest, it doesn’t look good for Oceano.

Understanding the Allegations

The allegations are straightforward. Gallien claims to have submitted his design to the band but was told it didn’t make the cut. However, when the final artwork was released, it looked similar to his original design.

To that end, the similarities are very striking. Both feature a stylized coffin on the left with the exact same text. Both coffins have a floral detail at the bottom, and both have a “Last Shows Ever” banner above the logos for the other bands. Other elements are also arranged similarly.

However, there are notable differences as well. Gallien’s work is more realistic, whereas the final flyer is more cartoonish. The backgrounds are also different, and unlike Gallien’s, the final flyer features a footer.

But these are relatively minor differences in the big scheme of things. Looking at the flyers side-by-side, there’s not much dispute that they are very similar.

One question we don’t have an answer to is, “What instructions did Oceano give Gallien?” We don’t know how many similarities were from the original call for submissions. However, given Gallien’s response, that doesn’t seem likely. That seems to be supported by Warren’s comments, which at least acknowledge the similarities.

However, I don’t quite agree with Gallien either. He presents the flyer as just a reskin of his, with some texturing and color grading. Though there’s no way to be certain with the current evidence, the most likely explanation is that Warren liked the layout but not the style. So, he had another artist recreate the flyer in a different style.

Whether this unnamed designer used Gallien’s flies is unclear. However, that point is largely moot.

Copyright and Plagiarism Questions

From a copyright standpoint, I don’t think Gallien would have much of an issue showing that the final flyer is a derivative work based on his. This is especially true since hundreds of “ordinary observers” are already calling out those similarities in the comments.

If Gallien did want to sue, he would likely have a strong case. Whether such a lawsuit is practical is another matter. Due to the nature of the infringement, this could be a good case for the Copyright Claims Board. However, higher damages may be available to Gallien if he registers his version of the flyer relatively soon.

But what about the ethics of the situation? What, if anything, should Warren have done differently?

The answer is simple: Be transparent.

If my theory is correct, Warren could have contacted Gallien and said he liked the layout but not the art style. He could have either worked with Gallien to produce the final product or negotiated a deal to let another artist work on it, using Gallien’s work as a starting point.

However, even if my theory is wrong, Warren should have contacted Gallien before the flyer’s release. Leaving him to learn about the similarities after the fact was a recipe for hurt feelings. Being proactive would have avoided nearly the entire controversy.

Warren clearly did not consider Gallien’s work or his feelings when publishing the flyer. Even after the fact, he is still dismissive of these issues. He comes across as being more interested in quelling the controversy than actually making things right with a fellow creative.

It’s not a good look for a creative in any field.

Bottom Line

For Warren and Oceano, this should have been a victory lap. It was a chance to do one last tour before separating and moving on to other projects.

To be clear, this victory lap was mired in controversy from the start. The planned Attila tour brought the band unwelcome attention. Already dealing with upset fans, this final tour was a chance to make a clean break and close out their nearly 20-year run.

However, that didn’t happen. As I said with the Meghan Markle case last week, this was an unforced error. This would never have happened if Warren had been transparent and worked with Gallien.

Instead, I feel that Warren does not value the contributions of the designers he works with. He dismisses Gallien’s work as not being “hand drawn” and continues to insist he doesn’t like it, though he clearly does like elements of it. This comes across as derisive.

The positive aspect of all this is that the community has shown broad support for Gallien. His concern seemed to be less about the money and more about getting credit. To that end, he seems to be better known as a contributor than he would have been if they had just used his flyer.

In the end, that may be the irony of the situation. Flyer designers rarely get significant attention. However, because of how Oceano used his work, he’s now the center of a media storm.

It will be interesting to see if and how this alters his career.