PokerPaint Copyright Thief Brett Butz Called Out as WSOP Beckons

The man behind serial copyright theft of poker’s best-known photographers’ work has been called out yet again for producing, promoting and selling artwork to which he has no rights...

Retweets appreciated on this 🍀

Once again @PokerPaint is back to his old ways of using photos he has no permission to use. I'm blocked from viewing his page so I won't be able to respond to him directly. pic.twitter.com/jCo84kE0Ua

— Danny Maxwell (@MannyDaxwell) May 19, 2022

PokerPaint and the man behind it, Brett Butz, were called out in September last year for taking photographers’ works and putting them through a filter, before passing it off as original artwork.

Butz reproduced images of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Matt Berkey, Dan “Jungleman” Cates and Jason Koon among others, with multiple photographers revealing that they either hadn’t been asked, or had refused permission.

Haley Hochstetter, who blew the whistle on Butz’s theft, stated:

“He knows what he is doing. I told him no and he did it anyways. Some people are saying this is a “grey area” involving copyright. It’s not. He is simply stealing other photographers’ work without permission, illegally changing it, and selling it for a profit.”

Danny Maxwell stated at the time:

“Go ahead and make your own "art" but what you're doing with these photos created by photographers is stealing & you then monetize them. No if/and/buts about it.”

Appreciate the apology, but claiming ignorance still isn’t the way to go. Now that you’re more aware of the copyright laws, the best path to take is to remove ALL images before major companies get their lawyers involved. (WSOP, WPT, PokerStars, PokerNews, PokerGO)

— Hayley Hochstetler (@hayleyocho) September 27, 2021

However, despite eventually admitting the photographers’ concerns and claims were legitimate, Butz doubled down by releasing further images as NFTs – on sale for between $250 and $1500 apiece.
But when it came to compensating the photographers whose work he was stealing, Butz refused to offer a decent deal.

Last October, five of poker’s best and best-known photographers –Eric Harkins, Drew Amato, Hayley Hochstedter, Neil Stoddart, and Danny Maxwell – sent Butz a ‘cease and desist’ notice.

It’s not clear if any of the five have since been able to work out an acceptable deal with Butz, but at least one of PokerStars’ photographer Neil Stoddart’s works – a Bill Perkins image – is still on sale as a Pokerpaint NFT on OpenSea.

In the run-up to the 2022 World Series of Poker, the latest in the copyright theft saga saw Danny Maxwell appealing for those who might fancy a piece of the artwork to resist.

“With the 2022 WSOP around the corner and the poker epicentre for the next couple months I'd ask people to avoid having any dealings with him or buying any of his "art". Myself and the other poker photographers are looking forward to a good summer of taking pictures.”

Butz has taken to blocking on Twitter many of those who have questioned or reported on his copyright theft, yours truly included, but should he respond to the latest accusations we’ll keep you updated.