Pittsburgh artist accuses clothing company of using his artwork without permission

An artist in Pittsburgh said a clothing company used his artwork without his permission. 

Artist Chris Deighan said Steel City sold shirts with his artwork in its stores and online. Deighan said Steel City watered down his design.

"None of the buildings are really where they are, and there are some things from the past in there that don't exist anymore," he said. 

Deighan said that after his attempts to get in touch with Steel City resulted in getting blocked, he took to social media to plead his case. KDKA Investigates reached out to Steel City, which said:

"We were made aware of similarities several weeks ago and addressed it at that time by updating the artwork. The shirt is no longer in use or available."

But Deighan claims the company heavily advertised and made money selling a shirt that relied on his design instead of asking to work with him and support local. 

"It's nice someone liked the image enough to use it, but I would have rather worked with them instead of having it go this way," Deighan said. 

When KDKA Investigates asked Steel City if it intends to offer any compensation to Deighan, the company said he had not asked. Deighan said his attorney is now going to reach out.