A debate is raging on RPG.net and the Atlantasia web site's comments section over the cover art for the recently-released fantasy role-playing game Realms of Atlantasia. It seems the artwork is actually a Photoshopped combination of artist Ciruelo Cabral's dragon and a picture of Neuschwanstein castle in Germany, UPDATE: which is available on Thinkstock. Thanks to Vegeta2300 for pointing out that the castle picture is in fact still under copyright, but is available royalty-free.
John Holland, the author, responded to the accusations on his Facebook group:
There seems to be word spreding around the I STOLE the artwork that graces the cover of my game book; let me put this to rest..............I supplied the publishing company with a brief description of what I wanted as a cover and THEY supplied me with the cover you see. There will be NO law suits over this as it is the publisher's creative department which provided the artwork so therefore the artist HAD to give them permission.
And on his web site:
To those who are saying I stole someone's artwork, you cannot be more wrong. The cover was supplied by my publisher! As to the rest who are critiquing my game.....you are entitled to your opinion, but the over 250,000 who have bought the game are the ones who's opinions I care about.
At no point does Holland claim that he has a legal right to the cover, only that the cover is the responsibility of the publisher. iUniverse, the aforementioned publisher, explains how they create covers on their web site:
All books published via the iUniverse standard publishing packages receive custom-designed covers, produced in full color. Unlike most self-publishing companies, iUniverse does not use basic template designs for books that will be distributed in the channel. Nor do we charge extra for custom-designed covers. When you publish a book with iUniverse, our design team will work with you—incorporating your photos, graphics, sketches and ideas—to create a unique book cover that exceeds your expectations and beautifully represents your book's contents.
It's entirely possible that Holland provided the copyrighted artwork or that iUniverse did. It's also possible that iUniverse has the rights to the artwork. One thing's for certain -- Ciruelo confirmed that he never gave permission for his work to be used, which he explained in response to my email inquiry:
...the dragon used on that cover is one of my well known paintings. I never gave permission for them to use the image on the cover of Atlantasia. And I know that, nowadays, this is a very common problem for us artists, since everybody uses images from interent claiming that they thought it was free. But art directors from a publishing house know perfectly that behind every illustration there is an illustrator.
I have sent inquiries to iUniverse for comment. Stay tuned!
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