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Swedish Masters of the Universe Blu-ray Uses Fan Art Without Permission


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Dave Rapoza

It’s an odd choice – in Dolph Lundgren’s native land, I guess they didn’t think Frank Langella was enough of a threat for the homegrown hero, so the Blu-ray distributors just grabbed some Skeletor fan art off the web. Now, legally, artist Dave Rapoza is right in acknowledging he doesn’t own the character (he may not be right in thinking Cannon is responsible – it’s probably a local PR snafu), but technically they should at least pay him work-for-hire rates as they would anyone else they might get in-house to create a Skeletor for the poster. Naturally, they’re counting on him not coming to Sweden and making it a court issue there.

They also probably know that given Rapoza’s actual, for-hire work on League of Legends and X-Men: Days of Future Past, they couldn’t afford him. However, if Sony sees this and decides to sign him on for the new movie, it’ll probably be all good.

Most baffling of all in this equation? Why anyone would not sell the shit out of Frank Langella in that movie, when everyone agrees he’s the best thing in it.