Hot Topic using Sailor Moon fanart without permission
I was surprised to see that, in one of Hot Topic's latest mass emails, that to promote their "Sailor Moon" category, they used this Eternal Sailor Moon fanart by Ichigokitten.
I left a comment on DA to Ichigokitten, and she confirmed that HT never contacted her about using it. She also emailed them and so far has gotten no response. I tweeted at Hot Topic, as well as emailed them, but also haven't gotten any answer as to why they did it, or if they were going to pull the image from the mailer.
I was mostly shocked because, really...out of all the official art of Sailor Moon out there, HT's using fanart to promote their official Sailor Moon line? (Not to mention it's of Eternal Sailor Moon, and I don't think they have any products with her on it yet, even.) I know HT's had a bad history of selling items with ripped off art over the years, but I wasn't expecting they themselves would be stupid enough to do something like that. :/
Edit: Once again, to clarify, Hot Topic is using the image in a promotional email only (so far) to promote the SM products they sell. You can click the link I included above to see it in full. HT themselves hasn't put the image on t-shirts or anything as far as we know.
I left a comment on DA to Ichigokitten, and she confirmed that HT never contacted her about using it. She also emailed them and so far has gotten no response. I tweeted at Hot Topic, as well as emailed them, but also haven't gotten any answer as to why they did it, or if they were going to pull the image from the mailer.
I was mostly shocked because, really...out of all the official art of Sailor Moon out there, HT's using fanart to promote their official Sailor Moon line? (Not to mention it's of Eternal Sailor Moon, and I don't think they have any products with her on it yet, even.) I know HT's had a bad history of selling items with ripped off art over the years, but I wasn't expecting they themselves would be stupid enough to do something like that. :/
Edit: Once again, to clarify, Hot Topic is using the image in a promotional email only (so far) to promote the SM products they sell. You can click the link I included above to see it in full. HT themselves hasn't put the image on t-shirts or anything as far as we know.