The issue is that the BNS submission is clearly traced. The artist must have overlayed the original image to copy everything; and you can also see how the skin (clear example on legs) are painted the exact same. Referencing a pose is fine as long as its not blatant tracing, however, this is tracing. This makes part of the drawing completely unoriginal because it used someone else's "intellectual property" (violation of contest rules) to directly make the art. Not only is the pose the same, but the entire composition too. General lighting, angle, etc.. even the flying bullets..!
Though I agree how it's not exactly "art theft"
The original piece is obviously different. The issue is how it was used to make the contest submission.