NBA 2K16 News Update 2016: Game Studio Sued over LeBron James and Kobe Bryant Tattoos
NBA 2K16 is one of the most popular video games in any game console or platform today. But one's popularity usually comes with downsides, and in this case, copyright infringement issues.
A tattoo studio reportedly has filed a case against 2K games, the NBA 2K16 developer, for including its art in the form of tattoos for five NBA players who happen to be part of the video game. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last Feb. 1, but the news about it surfaced just recently.
According to the tattoo studio called Solid Oak Sketches, the act of 2K Games in showcasing the tattoos of five players in the person of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, and Kenyon Martin in their video game constitutes copyright infringement.
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While the said tattoos already appeared in the previous installments of the game developed by the same game studio, Solid Oak Sketches emphasized in its complaint that they actually held talks and offered a licensing deal to use them in the latest version of the game. However, 2K Games allegedly did not want to pay the $1.1 million licensing offer.
Aside from 2K Games, the lawsuit also named two other respondents in Take-Two and Visual Concepts. Furthermore, Solid Oak is asking the court to have a trial by jury and that the amount constituting the damages is expected to be determined during the trial. They also asked for an injunction of the production and sale of the game.
With reference to the role of Take-Two, Solid Oak further demanded in its complaint that the artwork (tattoos) should be prevented from being used and will ask for $150,000 per case of infringement.
While this is a matter of law, it certainly looks very awkward to think about tattoos being copyrighted. But according to Solid Oaks, the players who asked for their services to be inked know about this design copyright thing and that Take-Two also previously knew about it, making them liable.
