MTGSalvation Steals, Distorts Image

by News | posted at 2010-01-16 13:45:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Worldwake, Prerelease, Spoiler, Preview, Kor Firewalker, ManaNation, MTGSalvation

The Worldwake spoiler season is in full swing (check TheStarkingtonPost.com front page for numerous Worldwake spoilers), and MTGSalvation, which has made a name for itself by focusing almost exclusively on spoilers, is right in the thick of things. At one time the site was famous for compiling and publishing full spoilers weeks in advance of Prereleases. After a lawsuit with Wizards of the Coast, however, and a clamp down on material released before sets by WotC, Salvation has been reduced to becoming mostly a compiler of publicly available information from other sites. Other sites, like TheStarkingtonPost.com, receive exclusive spoilers from Wizards of the Coast which they're allowed to publish in advance of the Prerelease. Salvation, which does not receive any spoilers from Wizards, takes the images and information from these articles and passes it off as their own.

This is an issue that has caused consternation amongst some independent bloggers and writers in the Magic blogosphere, but for Worldwake Salvation has taken things to a whole new level. As added defense for having their images credited, many sites, including TheStarkingtonPost.com, have added watermarks to their images to prevent outright theft. Here's how ManaNation.com published their spoiler, Kor Firewalker:

When the same spoiler went live on Salvation shortly after, here's the image they posted:

The second image was clearly altered to void the ManaNation.com watermark. Take a closer look.

Here's the ManaNation.com watermark:

And here's the same spot on the MTGSalvation image:

The watermark was clearly disrupted, an effort to void credit for the image from ManaNation.com, the site where it was stolen by MTGSalvation.

You can read the original Kor Firewalker preview from ManaNation.com here. Read TheStarkingtonPost.com take on the card here.

Is this going too far? Has MTGSalvation crossed the line with the Worldwake previews? Share your thoughts on this topic with the discussion link below.

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