{"id":271388,"date":"2026-06-18T22:41:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271388\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T22:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:41:36","slug":"while-knicks-fans-celebrate-a-new-york-artist-fumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271388\/","title":{"rendered":"While Knicks Fans Celebrate, a New York Artist Fumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hours after the New York Knicks won their first N.B.A. title in more than 50 years, their social media accounts shared a watercolor painting<\/a> of fans celebrating outside Madison Square Garden in a sea of blue and orange.<\/p>\n

It was a big moment for the emerging Brooklyn artist Gavin Snider.<\/p>\n

But later that day, one of the most famous artists on social media<\/a>, Devon Rodriguez, posted his own painting, one with uncanny similarities<\/a>. There was the same skyline. The same foam finger, and the same Knicks flag waving nearby. The same numbers on the jerseys of specific fans.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez asked his followers, nearly 34 million on TikTok alone, to comment \u201cCHAMPS\u201d if they wanted to buy a print of his work for just under $100.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of obvious,\u201d Snider said of the visual overlap in a phone interview. \u201cOn one hand, you\u2019re upset because hard work has been stolen. And I think the more predominant feeling was like, \u2018Why? What\u2019s the goal here?\u2019 This is an artist who has achieved a lot of success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez did not respond to questions about his painting. He deleted social media posts about it and removed the prints from his online shop.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Knicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez became popular by posting videos on TikTok in which he drew portraits of strangers on the subway, giving the sketches to his subjects and capturing their emotional reactions. In 2021, he told The New York Times<\/a> that his commission for sponsored content ranged from $20,000 to $30,000. That was when he had 20 million followers \u2014 and before he started posting interviews with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey<\/a>, Nicolas Cage<\/a> and Jennifer Lopez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Snider, who has a smaller social media presence, told his 42,000 Instagram followers<\/a> about his concerns with the Rodriguez painting on Tuesday. \u201cWhat do you do when someone blatantly steals your art?\u201d he wrote. \u201cI don\u2019t need him to take the post down. I don\u2019t care that he\u2019s selling it. My goal isn\u2019t to have millions of followers. But I would like credit, or at least mention of my artwork being the inspiration for the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not uncommon for artists to create similar compositions, especially when they are covering popular events broadcast on television and documented in thousands of photographs. Snider said he drew on dozens of photographs and videos to create his version of the scene outside Madison Square Garden, which he said was commissioned before the N.B.A. finals by a third party and received the Knicks\u2019 blessing.<\/p>\n

Under copyright law, there is a high bar to proving that someone violated another artist\u2019s rights, which is why most disputes end in settlements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a feature, not a bug, of the copyright system that we have to keep asking these questions, because it helps refine and expand our sense of what matters,\u201d said Virginia Rutledge, an art historian and lawyer.<\/p>\n

Snider said he had no comment about pursuing legal action. He is still looking for a resolution with Rodriguez and wants to raise awareness of how artists are \u2014 and are not \u2014 credited on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to create artwork based on the Knicks,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s another thing to create artwork based on somebody else\u2019s work entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n