Dan Frazier, one of the original artists for Magic: The Gathering, has been wrapped up in a plagiarism scandal this month over a recently released image of the One Ring from The Hobbit set. Fans on Reddit quickly noticed that Frazier’s image greatly resembled a previous One Ring illustration by Marta Nael from the Tales of Middle-earth set. Now, Frazier and Magic: The Gathering’s parent company, Wizards of the Coast, have acknowledged that Nael’s art was used without her permission or credit for her work.
“I made a mistake, and I feel awful,” wrote Frazier in a statement on X. “I especially feel for Marta, whose work I adore. In trying to create an iconic version of The One Ring, while looking at references online, I ended up using Marta’s Ring as a reference and painted over it to try to depict the item the fans hold dear to their hearts. In doing so, I didn’t make it my own. I’m reaching out to Marta privately to apologize artist to artist.”
