[Phil68]

While I cannot speak for anyone else, in 10 years of sales I, personally, have had 2 people purchase cards that they thought were vintage. Both received immadiate refunds and were novice collectors that thought they could purchase a "1922" Rogers Hornsby, for example, for 23.00.
To answer the copyrights, I own or license my images and many are simply out of copyright. To date, more than two dozen families of players have responded with joy and many receive free copies. Some have even provided signatures for use on my cards that are seemingly impossible to find.
My cards are original paintings or colorized images--depending on the era and vibe I am trying to evoke.
Starting in 2022, copyrights and dates are listed on the reverses of most cards. Some just look terrible with the type on the reverse, so I use out of copyright reverses or make them entirely different artwork.
Some people love art cards, some hate them. Just like I won't consider buying any Mickey Mantle cards after 1961...to me, he looks bloated and on the decline. It's personal taste. No deception is ever intended.
Believe me on this; if I wanted to be deceptive, I could make a card that nobody could tell the difference. Frankly, simply making a countefeit card would be much easier than what I do. I have no desire to spend my time doing that because my motivation has always been "something new and interesting".
A miniscule amount of collectors can afford ANY Mantle or Ruth card. They can afford mine and enjoy them. It's collecting in it's pure form.
Remember, they cards we cherish are, at the end of the day, ephemera.
I also would like to note that all substrates we use in assembly are vintage and pre-date 1956.
I will speak for Charles Mandel on this; that man has NEVER tried to deceive anyone. He is a pure art guy. He's passionate about his craft. We love what we do and are grateful enough people like it that we can afford to do it.

Finally, I DO brew my own beer! Lol. All of the Beers and Ales we refer to on our cards actually exist. Some don't taste too good, but I'm learning. My Summer Brew wound up tasting like Cherry Wheat and the Ruby Ale is almost too strong, Lol.