NBA 2K Sued for Using Tattoos Without Artist Permission
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 removing 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.
In a previous copyright case by the same legal team, they represented Mike Tyson's face tattoo artist in a lawsuit versus Warner Bros. prior to release of The Hangover II. Despite the tattoo not being copyrighted until years after being inked on Tyson and just weeks before the lawsuit (sound familiar?), Warner Bros. would ultimately settle the lawsuit out of court after it appeared that the judge's language and dismissal of the defendant's claims.
While NBA 2K16 is the target of this litigation, NBA LIVE 16 also features many of these same tattoos. (Some could not be verified due to apparel covering where they would be located on the player.) However, with the plaintiff's demand from 2K being centered on the sales numbers for 2K14 and 2K15 (13 million units), they may have felt the LIVE franchise's sales did not warrant inclusion as the asking price would be considerably less. Oddly enough, this may be the reverse of the recent player likeness lawsuits in regards to college athletics. EA SPORTS NCAA Football was the highly successful, on-going product while 2K SPORTS' College Hoops and NCAA Football 2K were not profitable or in existence to include in any litigation.
Continue on to see the list and in-game screens of offending players and tattoos.
- LeBron James: (1) Child Portrait on his inner left forearm; (2) "Hold My Own" on his left bicep; (3) 330 Area Code on his right forearm; and (4) script with a scroll, clouds, and doves on his right forearm.
- Kobe Bryant: Crown with Butterflies on his right bicep
- Kenyon Martin: Wizard on his left shoulder
- DeAndre Jordan: Script with a Scroll on his right shoulder
- Eric Bledsoe: Basketball with Stars and Script on his right shoulder
LeBron James: Child Portrait on his inner left forearm
LeBron James: "Hold My Own" on his left bicep
LeBron James: 330 Area Code on his right forearm
LeBron James: Script with a scroll, clouds, and doves on his right forearm.
Kobe Bryant: Crown with Butterflies on his right bicep
Kenyon Martin: Wizard on his left shoulder
DeAndre Jordan: Script with a Scroll on his right shoulder
Eric Bledsoe: Basketball with Stars and Script on his right shoulder
