Video game company Take-Two, producers of the popular "NBA 2K" game franchise, is being sued by Solid Oak Sketches for allegedly violating the copyright they have on the tattoo designs inked on basketball superstars such as Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.
ESPN reported Monday that the makers of "NBA 2K16" are being slammed for allegedly featuring the tattoos, copyrighted to Solid Oak Sketches, in the popular basketball video game. This copyright infringement suit was filed in a New York federal court on Monday.
James' "Hold My Own" and script scrolls tattoos are among the eight designs under question. Former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's butterflies tattoo was also involved, as well as ink works on NBA Players Eric Bledsoe, Kenyon Martin and DeAndre Jordan.
In its pleading, Solid Oak said that the tattoos designed and executed by their artists fall under "pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works" that are entitled to legal protection.
The tattoos having been licensed, every time an athlete makes a promotional appearance, such as in this case the "NBA 2K16" video game, the producers thereof need to work out a separate arrangement with Solid Oak to gain permission to feature the designs.
According to Reuters, Solid Oak allegedly offered to grant Take-Two licensing over the designs for a sum of $1.14 million, but the latter chose to ignore it. This could bar any "good faith" defense on the part of the video game company.
Despite the peculiarity of the issue raised in the case, it does not go unprecedented. American jurisprudence shows that drama involving video game companies, athletes and their tattoos have become all too common.
American video game company THQ lost to tattoo artist Victor Escobedo in a lawsuit involving UFC fighter Carlos Condit's lion tattoo, Forbes noted in a report on Tuesday. The court granted Escobedo $22,500 in damages.
The NFL was also embroiled in a similar glitch in 2004 when they were sued over Rick Williams' copyrighted tattoo which appeared on the cover of NFL Street without permission from the owner. As a precaution, NFL now requires their players to obtain waivers from tattoo artists.
But how is Lebron James, who also appears on the cover of "NBA 2K16," handling the courtroom drama centering on his Solid Oak-licensed tattoos? "I'm going to copyright my lips," the basketball superstar quipped.
"NBA 2K16" was first released in Sept. 19. The sales for its first week figured at 4 million copies sold worldwide.
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