Comments on: Hot Topic Steals Soap, Slips and Falls On It

By: Hot Topic rips off yet another designer | Michael Salamon

Hot Topic rips off yet another designer | Michael Salamon — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:26:04 +0000

[...] The thing is, Newbreed Girl has a history of this. In fact this is the third time. They were originally busted for totally biting off illustrator Nina Matsumoto, and then they were caught lifting a Threadless design by Jeff Fink. [...]

By: Lee Frank

Lee Frank — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:34:38 +0000

That really sucks. Stealing designs is terrible. The worst part is that the first one is way better.

By: why god hates me » Hot Topic Steals Yet Another Design And Sells It As Its Own [Hot Topic]

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:41:19 +0000

[...] this year, Newbreed Girl took another artist’s image and sold it on Hot Topic. And before that, we wrote about Hot Topic selling another artist’s tattoo design as their [...]

By: Betty

Betty — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:37:31 +0000

Copies of copies. I remember the Natalie Dee one as well. Perhaps when Jess Fink gets paid she can pass it on to Natalie Dee who can give it to…

By: Erica!!!

Erica!!! — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:24:28 +0000

i have not been having much luck with manic panic, and in my search for a funky hair color that actually works, I remembered that in high school I used to get some awesome stuff from hot topic. When I went a lookin’ for said stuff I was told that the small company that made this awesome hair color that worked beautifully without bleaching first and on naturally dark hair to boot, had been taken to court for issues related to what basically amounted to shipping and billing inconsistencies. HT sued them for their recipe and I think the guy said they where out of business now too.
But Whatever. Hot topic generally sucks giant zombie testes anywho.

By: Tequila

Tequila — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:46:45 +0000

Ugh…this happens far too often and Skerror bringing up ole’ Todd only reminds one that many get away with it. In the case of Todd though he ripped off many designs and sold them for serious $$$ to assorted collectors.

As much as this does suck can one really fight this? Hot Topic or whoever owns them these days can tie up an artist in court for years if they want.

The best one can do is get the word out and hopefully kill potential sales of stuff using ripped off designs.

This kinda stuff skirts that fine line of art and commerce. As we look around one can get away with ripping off another’s idea provided you have better marketing.

By: Skerror

Skerror — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:08:17 +0000

Yeah this was blatant. Apparently some guy named Todd Goldman ripped this design off for a painting as well (not as blatant but still…): http://flickr.com/photos/23184972@N02/2279191355/

Hopefully Jess can take a little bit of solace in the fact that people who engage in this kind of theft are mired in a deep-rooted swamp of unoriginality. Sure, they may make a few bucks…but they are going to pay quite a bit more in their souls. These poor wretched people are feeling the shame…and if they aren’t, they’re in an even worse mess.

By: Io

Io — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:36:53 +0000

Wow, can you say, “copyright infringement?”

By: Hot Topic: Stealers (that steal) « Blog of Interest

Hot Topic: Stealers (that steal) « Blog of Interest — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:21:33 +0000

[...] Thanks: Coilhouse [...]

By: lisa g

lisa g — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:47:05 +0000

I think Natalie Dee (www.nataliedee.com) used to have a similar t-shirt that even preceded the Threadless one … a cute soap with arms saying: “Come on, wash up! The butt too!” (Instead I bought the askew cupcake saying “Hey, cupcake.”) (Not sure if she’s the artist Mer’s talking about, though.)