A story which has been playing out in the mainstream media recently involves multiple lawsuits and controversy with regards to autographed memorabilia, including doctored photos altered to include images of items that are completely fictional in the context of the original photos, with instruments and other material added to unrelated photos.
While not directly related to original props and costumes, as was the case with the fraud in the poster/one sheet field late last year, this is certainly of interest and relevance to our hobby.
Autograph Magazine published photos of these doctored photos last month – both before and after. The original article can be found at www.autographmagazine.com:
Below are side-by-side comparisons of the original photos and the doctored photos in which additional elements are added to the image to make it appear that the celebrity is signing memorabilia which was not present at the time of the photos (click each image for higher resolution comparisons):
Below is a report by Inside Edition from November 2009:
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There is an article published by the Palm Beach Post today with additional information about this controversy. It can be found in full at www.PalmBeachPost.com:
Jason DeBord