Take-Two Interactive & Visual Concepts Sued By Tattoo Artists

[bcruise]

I guess this will finally stop the "why can 2k have tattoos but EA/SCEA can't put them in" talk on their respective boards.

Was only a matter of time.

[jwired21]

This is crazy. By the tattoo artists definition of "ownership" they are basically saying they could also remove the tattoo from the person when ever because they own it. And I mean remove in real life. It's like everything else, a money grab.

[SpeedyClaxton]

Well if FIFA can have tatts for soccer players i don't see why it's not possible with nba players.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by jwired21

This is crazy. By the tattoo artists definition of "ownership" they are basically saying they could also remove the tattoo from the person when ever because they own it. And I mean remove in real life. It's like everything else, a money grab.

That is not at all what the tattoo artists are saying.

The NBA player who purchased the tattoo has the right to wear and display it; he has paid the artist for the work in question. The video game publisher, which has not paid the artist for a license to use the artist's intellectual property, does not have the same license unless and until the publisher pays the artist.

It doesn't matter that the art is literally on the player's skin, the intellectual property of the art still belongs to the artist.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpeedyClaxton

Well if FIFA can have tatts for soccer players i don't see why it's not possible with nba players.

Someone will have to check me on this, but I would assume that any player tattoos which appear in the FIFA soccer video games have the same specific approval from the artist which governs the appearance of player tattoos in contemporary Madden NFL games. Starting with Madden NFL 15, a player appearing in the game must explicitly seek and gain permission from the artist to have his tattoos appear in the game.

[bcruise]

A thought on FIFA (and it's not something I know for sure, just a guess):

Being an international sport with players from all over the world, it might be subject to different (i.e. less strict) copyright and IP laws than the major US sports games are. It seems like that might be an apples to oranges comparison.

It's also possible that money-hungry tattoo artists and their lawyers haven't come knocking on EA's soccer studio door yet, much like 2k's until now.

[24ct]

I don't think ppl understand how much money they make on VC alone. Game sold like 8 million copies plus. VC can be purchased for the price of another full game at $50. They have it. Serves them right for making VC a microtransaction anyway. Call it karma.

I do remember Madden not having tattoos because of licensing issues. I thought it was just lazy. But now I see it was just cheap.

[SpeedyClaxton]

Well i can't imagine seeing players without tats..JR Smith, LeBron, Birdman without tats is really a garbage to me, small part of a game but adds big time to authenticity