Two software companies have to pay a US tattoo artist $ 3,750 in damages. The companies had recreated the tattoo he drew of wrestler Randy Orten in the WWE 2K video game series without the artist’s permission.
Many clients are unaware that their respective artists have copyrights to the tattoos they have drawn. Yes, you heard that right: tattoos can be copyrighted. This becomes particularly relevant when famous personalities are being tattooed and their equally “famous” tattoos suddenly appear elsewhere. For example in a computer game.
Tattoos may be copyrighted
Now two American companies have had to find out. World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. And Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has to pay tattoo artist Catherine Alexander $ 3,750 in damages for five arm tattoos she did for wrestler Randy Orton in the video game series “WWE 2K” reproduced without their permission. This was decided by a grand jury in Illinois. Tattoos were not part of that “right use” principle of US copyright law.
In 2009, Alexander turned down a $ 450 offer from WWE to have his tattoos used in games. For the tattoo artist, the current verdict is only a partial success. He had a lawsuit before 2018 United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois accused and claimed to share the profits made by the game “WWE 2K” registered, he had to be involved. However, the jury rejected this. Because the success of the game is not due to the use of “real” tattoos. The actor’s attorney, Anthony Simon, still considers the verdict a great success. This set an important precedent for the copyright protection of tattoo artists. “We didn’t win a lot of money, but that was never the case”Simone said.
Milestone of modern copyright law
Attorney Aaron Moss of the Greenberg Glusker law firm also agreed with this assessment ahead of the verdict: “There is a lot at stake. If the jury holds Take-Two and WWE responsible for copyright infringement, the case could severely limit people’s ability to license realistic representations of tattoos that have become part of their likeness and use of such depictions. Not just in video games, but potentially in other forms of expression such as film and photography “.
Randy Orton is a famous American wrestler who has signed for WWE since 2002. Born in 1980, Orton is a fourteen-time world heavyweight champion and a Grand Slam champion. He has over ten different tattoos. Among other things, the wrestler’s arm is decorated with the inscription “Alanna”, the name of his daughter. He wears various tribal arts – decorated with skulls and roses, among other things – plus a biblical verse on the upper and lower arms.
It is not the first time that Take Two Interactive Inc. was sued for using an athlete’s tattoos in a game. In 2020, the tattoo parlor claimed Solid oak sketcheswho were entitled to compensation for using the body art of LeBron James, Kenyon Martin and Eric Bledsoe in the WWE 2K Series. However, the judge in that case ruled in favor of Take-Two thanks to an agreement with the NBA that included rights to the player’s appearance. The court found Take-Two’s use of tattoos to be minor (“de minimis”) because they were not an integral part of the game as a whole, only appeared for brief moments during gameplay, and were only a small part of the game. game data.
Decision: https://fingfx.thomsonmigration.com/
Source: https://copyrightlately.com/
