Outlaw Press uses Stolen Art and Content

Normally I try not get involved in issues online that are not directly involved with myself.  Past events aside, I just really don't have the passion or realy the time anymore.

 

But this is something that I can't ignore.

 

Outlaw Press, inc., run by James Shipman, has been using art he has stolen from the web. He claims he bought it from an "art broker" but too many people have since come out to claim they have never been paid. So his claims are likely another lie on his part.

 

The list of art verified stolen is staggering.

 

You can see a PDF listing it all here: http://stardust-publications.com/outlaw-press/OutlawPressCoversComparisonList.pdf

 

It is 30 pages of stolen art!


Now taking my word for it is not, and should not be, enough. So here is a stack of links of other discussing the issue, supporting the artists and otherwise providing evidence.

 

The RPG.Net thread that found the evidence, http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=483885

 

TrollBridge discussion forum, http://trollbridge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1163&page=1

 

EN World’s post on the subject, http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/269217-outlaw-press-stolen-artwork-accusations.html

 

Dragonsfoot. This one is interesting since it deals with Shipman and Outlaw Press stealing Mazes & Minotaurs a few months back, http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=31923

 

Concept Art forum, interesting because these are the artists themselves, http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=176392

 

A list of supporting Blog posts.

• http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2009/11/rpg-net-discussions-pirates-and-witches.html
• http://unclebear.com/?p=4344 Uncle Bear’s blog
• http://rpg.brouhaha.us/?p=1998&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamingBrouhahaRpg+%28Gaming+Brouhaha+%C2%BB+RPG%29
• http://theomnipotenteye.blogspot.com/2009/11/latest-bad-news.html
• http://dungeonmastering101.blogspot.com/2009/11/looks-like-i-bought-book-with-stolen.html

This is staggering. I am not sure what James Shipman thinks he is doing here? But this is unconscionable. The RPG community is small, the profits to be had are even smaller. Many of us do this for the love of the game, not for money. Then to have someone steal material so he can profit. Well it is certainly against every reason why I am in this business.

If you read this post, please re-post this posting or post your own somewhere else to let everyone know.