Protection Methods of Tattoo Artists

Tattoos, Cameras, ACTION!

A tattoo artist is planning on suing the film producers of a blockbuster film for using his work illegally in their movie!

The tattoo artist is claiming that his tattoo is a unique work that was used without his consent. He would like to be economically compensated for this issue.

The artist's intellectual creation would therefore attract copyright protection due to its original nature. The artist (being the rights holder) has the right to copy, make, distribute, adapt, and translate the work. 

When the film producers were contacted about the lawsuit, they explained it was not going to prosper because the artist had not obtained an official copyright of his work and could not prove the date it was created.

The film producers are arguing that the artist does not have concretized “proof” to determine the scope and duration of his work. Therefore the producers can exploit the creation at will.

Tips for Artists

Artists can therefore in the future implement a few measures in order to have evidence for the creation of future works.

• 1.      Keep a catalogue of original work that would depict the creative process and the finalized work. Ensure the copyright notice appears on each page.
• 2.       Utilize the poor man’s copyright method and register original works back to themselves.
• 3.       Obtain a statutory declaration that would show the work as being an original creation and by whom it was created.
• 4.       Take a photograph of the finished/completed tattoo on the person to further prove who the artist is and the actual application of the work.
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  5.       Employ steps 1-3 to step 4 for further evidence.