Take-Two Interactive and Visual Concepts, the manufacturers of NBA 2K,
have been sued by Solid Oak Sketches, a company that via the original artists has acquired the copyrights to select tattoos on some of the NBA's biggest stars.
In total, eight tattoos on players including LeBron James & Kobe Bryant are listed in the complaint. Solid Oak Sketches are asking for $819,500 in prior 'unauthorized' inclusions within the game and promotional items, while also offering a perpetual license for a one-time cost of $1,144,000. All of the tattoos were issued a Certificate of Registration by the United States Register of Copyrights in June/July 2015, although the plaintiffs are seeking restitution from before that timeframe.
The full complaint is available for viewing at The Hollywood Reporter.
Concern over a lawsuit of this nature has become one of the reasons the Madden NFL franchise will only include player tattoos that the player has the rights to and/or that the tattoo artist will grant usage rights to EA SPORTS. Sports franchises such as NBA LIVE and EA SPORTS UFC already engage in the practice of excluding or modifying tattoos of licensed properties to avoid a legal issue. Some examples of these include Shaquille O'Neal's 'Man of Steel' and C.M. Punk's 'Cobra Commander' and Pepsi logos. Unless/until a court decision rules that tattoos are a commissioned work of art that are owned by the licensee, could sports titles remove player tattoos in the interim? If so, that would certainly damage the realism in player details that EA SPORTS UFC, NBA 2K, and NBA LIVE have excelled at.
Continue on for more, including to see the list and in-game screens of offending players and tattoos.
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