Florida Panthers Steal from Battle of California Contributor

Hi, friends.

The last time we talked, I lost a bet that would lead to me quitting this blog. In the near future, I promise to address that. In the meantime, here's some weird news...

Last year, Battle of California reader jmh3k (or @mikehiggins3000 on twitter) made some amazing artwork to share with all of us. Mike creates a lot of great stuff (aside from the Battle of California themed art), which you can (and should) go see on his Deviant Art page here.

Apparently we aren't the only ones to appreciate his artwork. The Florida Panthers are big fans, too!

So much so, that they stole it for a team promo, which you can see below. Mike's original is on the bottom, the Panthers' promo is above:

It's a bit more than coincidence. It's theft.

Here's more details from Mike's Facebook page, (which, for privacy, I'm not too sure if he wants me to link to):

Details: I was contacted by someone from the Panthers over Twitter a while back saying he liked my mascot series on DeviantArt (http://jmh3k.deviantart.com/gallery/46088358/NHL-Mascots) and wanted to commission me to do some work for the Panthers. I was psyched to do something for an NHL team, so we talked for a while, but when I got to outlining my rates, he cut things off and said they were "going a different direction." Today, a month and a half later someone on Twitter pointed this out to me:

https://twitter.com/FlaPanthersPR/status/740190254544605184

They took my Panthers image from DeviantArt, cut it into pieces, repositioned the pieces and painted a new jersey over it. Check the head, the right hand, the tail in particular.

I've had my artwork ripped off (and butchered) by a big company. I think that means I've finally made it as an artist.

Yikes.

I know Battle of California doesn't hold the most influence on the net, but I'm hoping this isn't the type of story that just goes away for the Florida Panthers.

Hopefully this continues to unfold in a way that Mike is taken care of by the franchise.