The Witcher: Blood Origin & Shawn Coss Artwork: Separated At Birth

While viewers appear torn over their feelings on Netflix’s prequel spinoff, The Witcher: Blood Origin, Artist Shawn Coss is sure of one thing. Taking to Twitter with a screencap from the “Blood Origin,” Coss is alleging that their artwork was used in the series “without my permission.” Over the course of three tweets, Coss shared previous instances when they ran into this problem and offered that it was possible that their artwork was passed off by an artist hired for the series (maybe an AI deal?) without the streamer or studio being aware of the artistic theft.

Here’s a look at Coss’s tweets where they lay out their claim:

Separated At Birth used to be called Swipe File, in which we presented two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences, or works of the lightbox. We trusted you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you are unable to do so, we ask that you please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. The Swipe File didn’t judge; it was interested more in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artists collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from the Comic Journal, which originally ran this column, and the now-defunct Swipe Of The Week website.