Megadeth Investigating Plagiarism Claims After Christmas Card Contest

The winner of the Megadeth Christmas card contest may have cheated. The band received a tip from a fan that the winning artwork was stolen, and now Megadeth is investigating the plagiarism claim.

According to MSN, Megadeth asked fans to submit original illustrations for a Megadeth holiday card. The top 10 winners all got a prize and the Grand Prize winner received a call from Dave Mustaine on Christmas Day.

Mustaine already called the winner but Megadeth said that it was still investigating the plagiarism claim.

Megadeth writes on its website:

“This year, our winner Jim Chadoulas allegedly submitted the artwork of another artist. Although we were notified of the possible plagiarism by an anonymous fan in Brazil after the Christmas Day call was already placed, we are investigating this matter further. We stand by the fact that Jim is innocent until proven guilty, and if our winner did indeed use someone else’s artwork, we will be notifying the second place winner to award him the first place prize and he will receive a phone call from Dave Mustaine. We hope to clear this up as quick as possible.”

Here’s a look at Megadeth’s winning Christmas card.

Here’s a look at the artwork that was allegedly plagiarized for the contest.

Do you think the Dave Mustaine was duped by a plagiarized card?