Video games, LeBron James, tattoos, and copyright law, in one story? The internet is really spoiling us today. @polygon reports on a long-drawn-out case in which tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden is suing Take-Two Interactive Software, makers of the NBA 2K video games, over the use of tattoos he made for LeBron James that were reproduced in games from 2016 to 2020. Hayden's attorney argues that Take-Two "painstakingly copied" the designs. Take-Two's team says that James' tattoos are a very small part of NBA 2K, and that James has licensed his own likeness to Take-Two, so a ruling in favor of Hayden would mean James would have to ask Hayden for permission to license his own being. Here are all the details, plus background on other cases in which tattoo artists have sued video game companies. What do you think?
It's a pretty clear outcome in this poll: LeBron James' tattoos belong to him, and there's no need to pay the tattoo artist for the use of his work in NBA2K when he was already paid to tattoo LeBron. @dancingtreefrog puts it succinctly: "So (1) Artist paints a painting, (2) Artist sells painting, (3) Buyer resells painting to someone else, (4) Artist demands a cut of the resale price?" It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case, since, as @dfrancis says, "courts don't determine truth, just which lawyer gave the better presentation."
@overholt@dancingtreefrog@dfrancis We learn so much in the fediverse! Seems like that particular law applies only to Europe and under certain conditions, but interesting to see that there is a precedent!
@CultureDesk@overholt@dancingtreefrog@dfrancis Here is an overview of Artist's Resale Right ("droit de suite") and the jurisdictions where it applies. It was a hot topic a few years ago when technologies to support it gained mainstream attention.
@msbellows That seems to be the basis of the argument — LeBron paid for the tattoos when he was given them, and that constitutes payment for the work. That, and the tattoos aren't a significant part of the game. We'd also argue that LeBron isn't particularly identified as a guy with tattoos, unlike the man mentioned in this case:
@CultureDesk@polygon@polygon@gaming The tattoos are on James so they are a part of any licensed depiction of James without needing the artist's permission. He should retain control of them for any other purpose.
@dfrancis Yes, that's where we're leaning! There are some other cases in which judges have gone the other way — for example, a jury awarded Take Two to pay compensation to the woman who tattooed Randy Orton, who appeared in the WWE 2K game. The judge argued that "WWE would have rejected Orton's videogame persona if it appeared without his tattoos or appeared with tattoos that were different than Orton's actual tattoos."
Another interesting case is this one, where a man called Lawrence Sullivan (known as the Florida Joker) is suing Rockstar claiming that a character in GTA6 is based on him. He's seeking $2 million:
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