Mike Tyson tattoo lawsuit

[BiggTruxx]

So if anyone has seen even the adverts for the film Hangover II, you have seen the mid-40s white guy sporting the infamous Tyson face tattoo. The original artist, who, according to intellectual property law, still owns the rights to the design, has sued Warner Bros for using his artwork. What do you guys think? Any artists or inked people have thoughts on this one...?

Also, what if I designed my own ink and the guy just copied my drawing... Does he own it? Or do I?

[badkittyamy]

Whoever designed the piece owns the art

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

It looks like the movie is making fun of the tattoo, which should be protected as parody. I am not a lawyer, but it is the talk i have been hearing around town and it makes sense.

And artist should own their work, but putting a piece in public does open it to certain forms of criticism imho.

[Raza]

Dunno what the law is here, but I personally feel parody is only an excuse when it is its own end, and not a means to profit. Warner's using the thing for comedic purposes in a comedic product... that's just reselling something, not commenting on it.

[aXa]

i didnt even notice a similarity between the two facial tattoos.

[Bikerpunk]

I don't think the gag works unless it's Tyson's tattoo. When they release it on DVD it won't make sense.