A trial underway in California could determine whether a tattoo based on a copyrighted image is a copyright violation. The case has potentially large implications for IP-centered industries such as the music business, which in recent years has increasingly focused on “name and likeness” rights in contracts and acquisitions. The case could also have implications for bodily autonomy and free expression – given that the tattoo in question has been indelibly stamped onto the arm of Blake Farmer, a friend of tatoo artist Kat Von D.
Source: Should photographers and rightsholders get paid when tattoo artists ink pictures of music icons?