Consumerist
Once again, Hot Topic is selling someone else's art as original work. The mallternative retail chain purchased the supposedly original design from Newbreed Girl, which has its own history of ripping off designs.
According to this post, artist Shawn Smith's "Son of Mustachio" character, seen here, has been repurposed on a shirt on Hot Topic's website, seen here. The artist is "not happy" and "dealing with it."
Earlier 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 own.
