Lego sued by artist over toy version of leather jacket worn by 'Queer Eye' star Antoni Porowski

• Lego is being sued by an artist over its toy leather jacket in a new "Queer Eye" set.
• Artist James Concannon says the company copied a leather jacket he designed for "Queer Eye" star Antoni Porowski without permission.

Lego is being sued by an artist who says that the toy company replicated a leather jacket he designed in its "Queer Eye Fab 5 Loft" set without consent.

In the lawsuit seen by Insider, filed in a Connecticut district court last month, Concannon says Lego created a "blatant copy" of a leather jacket he had specially designed and gifted to "Queer Eye" star Antoni Porowski that was worn on the show. Concannon says Porowski is a fan of his art and they connected on social media and then in person after he requested to wear one of Concannon's t-shirt designs in the first season of the rebooted show.

Concannon, who has since designed a number of outfits for Porowski to wear, said in the lawsuit that Netflix would normally ask for consent to feature an outfit in "Queer Eye," however, he says he did not receive a release form regarding the leather jacket and assumed it was an "oversight."

The artist says he contacted Lego upon seeing that the "Lego Queer Eye Fab 5 Loft" set had copied "the unique placement, coordination, and arrangement of the individual artistic elements" of the original jacket. Concannon said that the company made clear through its marketing that the toy jacket was based on the real one designed by him.

Concannon added that when he reached out to Lego the first time he was offered a free "Fab 5 Loft" set, which retails at $99, for his 6-year-old son. When the toy never came, he says he contacted Lego again and was told that the previous operator was mistaken and that Lego does not give away its sets for free.

After seeking counsel from an attorney, Concannon says that he wrote a cease and desist letter to Lego hoping that the company would compensate him or pay him royalties. Concannon says he uses money from his art to support his family and manage his type-1 diabetes.

The lawsuit states that Lego rejected the letter from Concannon, claiming that Concannon had granted Netflix an "implied license" after gifting the jacket to Porowski knowing that the "Queer Eye" star would wear it on the show, which meant that Netflix could permit Lego to recreate the design.

Lego declined to comment on an ongoing legal process when contacted by Insider.