User blog comment:TheFailuresInSpritesTeam/Failures In Sprites: Volume 1/@comment-1669199-20120810170707/@comment-1669199-20120810231842

It doesn't change the fact that OMG originally placed those Canon character sprites/artwork in his comic just to loophole the rule without actually having to abide by what it requires, and I believe that's what it was deleted for originally.