Poker Paint appeared to be a creative NFT project featuring art of poker pros -- until allegations of content theft emerged
Interesting story broke this week which combined the NFT world, the poker world, and the controversies surrounding content theft and fair use.
A company called "Poker Paint" appeared on the scene a few years ago, started by a guy named Brent Butz, who is otherwise unknown in poker. They present art of known poker pros in action, in a colorful scheme. Here's one they did of Daniel Negreanu:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...-logo_720x.png
You can see a lot of their work at their website https://pokerpaint.com
This company was largely ignored by most until very recently, when they made the attempt to enter the NFT (non-fungible token) space.
PokerPaint posted 104 of its images to OpenSea (an NFT middleman sales site), and the NFT-obsessed poker community was initially excited... until they learned that these iconic images were stolen from hardworking poker photographers, and simply modified into "painting" format.
Poker photographer Eric Harkins was one of the first to point this out, on September 24, after David Lappin initially reported PokerPaint's foray into the NFT world.
PokerPaint apparently even lifted an image from PokerGo footage in order to exploit Norm McDonald's death for profit, charging $1500 for this "painting" of him:
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...79894046355457
PokerPaint attempted to calm the controversy by posting a statement on Twitter, but it just made things worse:
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...62192990535685
https://twitter.com/HoldemMedia/stat...99053016408068
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...72140835352576
Many other poker photographers subsequently came forward and pointed out that their work was stolen by PokerPaint, but Hayley Hotchstetler told a story which put PokerPaint in arguably the worst light:
https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/statu...65968468086786
https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/statu...67015076986884
https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/statu...69545387339776
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...71360640221187
So this guy can't even claim ignorance. He asked Hayley for permission to use her photography, she said no, and the guy did it anyway. Yuck.
Even Daniel Negreanu got in the long line to kick PokerPaint in the nuts:
https://twitter.com/RealKidPoker/sta...12929669894145
Some are also accusing PokerPaint of simply using an app or filter program to create this "artwork", and that he's not actually painting anything. He denies this:
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...81278063702018
Eventually, PokerPaint conceded that he should have contacted the photographers first, but his name is already mud, and I can't imagine this project going anywhere. It's unclear if the photographers victimized will take legal action against him, for any sales he might have already made.
https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/statu...81430585368576
I can't find the NFT offerings on OpenSea anymore, so presumably he's removed them.