US court rules that unlicensed reproduction of NBA players' tattoos in their videogame avatars is not a copyright infringement
Are tattoos protected by copyright? If so, can a person give a third party permission to use their likeness (which includes displaying the tattoos attached to their body) without the consent of the tattoo artist who realized said tattoos? These intriguing questions have been raised in a number of jurisdictions [see IPKat posts here , here , here , here , here , here , here ; see also here for the (in)famous tattoo copyright headache surrounding The Hangover - Part II ] though conclusive answers were not really provided … at least until very recently. Earlier this week, in fact, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued its much-awaited summary judgment opinion (16-CV-724-LTS-SDA) in the (long-standing) proceedings initiated by a company (Solid Oak), which seemingly holds an exclusive copyright licence in the tattoos of NBA players Eric Bledsoe , LeBron James...