04/29/2011 01:20:00 PM EST
The Best Copyright Complaint Ever? Possibly, When You Have Mike Tyson, Face Tattoos and The Hangover 2 – FREE DOWNLOAD
While in Las
Vegas, S. Victor Whitmill applied an original tattoo to the side of boxer Mike
Tyson's face. Mr. Whitmill registered a copyright in the tattoo, and Mike Tyson
signed a release acknowledging that all artwork, sketches, drawings and photographs
related to the tattoo were Mr. Whitmill's property. Recently, Mr. Whitmill learned that the Hangover 2 features a virtually exact reproduction
of the tattoo. In the movie, the
tattoo appears on the upper left side of the Stu Price character's face, played
by actor Ed Helms. The tattoo is also prominently featured
in the movie's marketing and promotional materials,
including movie posters.

On April 28, Mr.
Whitmill filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros., accusing the company of
copyright infringement. Mr. Whitmill is seeking damages and an injunction
restraining the tattoo's display, both in the movie and otherwise.
Read the entire complaint filed in S. Victor Whitmill vs. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 11-cv-00752 (E.D. Mo. April 28,
2011)
Related items of interest:
1-2 Nimmer on Copyright § 2.08[B] Pictorial, Graphic,
and Sculptural Works - Works of Art (If you do not have a
lexis.com ID, you can purchase Nimmer on Copyright at the LexisNexis Bookstore)
Included within the Section
102(a)(5) category of pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works are "
'works of art' in the traditional sense ... [and] also works of graphic art,
and illustration, art reproductions ... and works of 'applied art.' " 48
This includes not only the fine arts of painting, drawing, and sculpture, but
also (subject to the qualifications discussed below), 49 works of applied art.
50 ....
9th Circuit Splits On Tattooing's 1st Amendment Protection;
Finds It Fully Protected/Purely Expressive Activity
In
a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit recently addressed whether a
municipal ban on tattoo parlors violated the First Amendment. Splitting with
several jurisdictions, the Ninth Circuit held that tattooing was ....
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