S. Victor Whitmill, the Missouri-based tattoo artist who inked the infamous tribal tattoo on boxer Mike Tyson‘s face, is suing producers of The Hangover Part II for copyright infringement. As you may know, one of the characters in the sequel film sports an exact replica of Tyson‘s face tattoo in a majority of the film [...]
S. Victor Whitmill, the Missouri-based tattoo artist who inked the infamous tribal tattoo on boxer Mike Tyson‘s face, is suing producers of The Hangover Part II for copyright infringement. As you may know, one of the characters in the sequel film sports an exact replica of Tyson‘s face tattoo in a majority of the film and Whitmill is demanding compensation. At first, I thought his claim was baseless … but it turns out that Whitmill actually copyrighted the tattoo design after he inked it on Tyson‘s face. He might actually have a very strong case … which would mean the Hangover folks may have to pay him a LOT of money in the long run.
The artist behind Mike Tyson’s famous facial tattoo sued Warner Bros. in federal court Thursday over the tattoo’s design being replicated on Ed Helms’ face in the upcoming film “The Hangover Part II.” Missouri artist S. Victor Whitmill, who tattooed Tyson’s face in Las Vegas in 2003, brought the suit in St. Louis court seeking to block Warner Bros. from using the tattoo in ads for the film, which is due out in late May. The suit alleges that Whitmill retained all the rights to the image, including the copyright, even though it was tattooed to the former boxer’s face, the St. Louis Times reported. Whitmill currently works out of a studio in Waynesville, Mo. In the R-rated film’s trailer, Helms’ character acquires the tattoo after a wild night of bachelor revelry with costars Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha and Zach Galifianakis. Helms’ character, who famously loses teeth in the first film, has to deal with the stamp on his face before his wedding day. “When Mr. Whitmill created the Original Tattoo, Mr. Tyson agreed that Mr. Whitmill would own the artwork and thus, the copyright in the Original Tattoo,” the complaint said. “Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. — without attempting to contact Mr. Whitmill, obtain his permission, or credit his creation — has copied Mr. Whitmill’s Original Tattoo and placed it on the face of another actor … This unauthorized exploitation of the Original Tattoo constitutes copyright infringement.” The ads have been ubiquitous and the appearance of the tattoo is a pivotal tease to a second cameo for Tyson despite his absence in the trailer. Warner Bros. declined to comment on the lawsuit.
HMMM. This could turn out to be very problematic for Warner Bros. In the end, Whitmill will have to prove that he does own the copyright for the tattoo design but if he can do so, WB will be forced to pay. There doesn’t seem to be any way to release the film without using the face tattoo design. To be honest, I had no idea that one could copyright a tattoo design but … I suppose they can. I am actually very curious to see how this lawsuit turns out … who do you think will win?
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Olivia Wilde
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