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:



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/status/1441079894046355457




PokerPaint attempted to calm the controversy by posting a statement on Twitter, but it just made things worse:

https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/status/1441562192990535685

https://twitter.com/HoldemMedia/status/1441599053016408068

https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/status/1441572140835352576



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/status/1441565968468086786

https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/status/1441567015076986884

https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/status/1441569545387339776

https://twitter.com/PokerPaint/status/1441571360640221187


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/status/1441612929669894145


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/status/1441581278063702018


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/status/1441581430585368576


I can't find the NFT offerings on OpenSea anymore, so presumably he's removed them.