Can Your Tattoo Artist Sue When Your Body is Depicted in a Video Game?

The relationship between tattoos and art law is often a topic of discussion. In most recent news, Solid Oak Sketches is suing the designers of video game NBA 2K16, Take-Two Interactive, for animating basketball player’s copyrighted tattoos. Included in this dispute are tattoos on LeBron James and Kobe Bryant’s arms. Evidenced in the lawsuit, Solid Oak Sketches offered Take-Two Interactive a $1.1 million license to depict the tattoos in NBA 2K16, with no response.

In the past, tattoo artists have won significant damages for their work being portrayed in video games without licenses, so much that, according to ESPN, the NFL Players Association now specifically asks players to obtain waivers from their tattoo artists before participating in video games and the like.

Tags: Copyright, tattoo, tattoos, video games