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As tattoos become big business, tattoo artists are asserting their copyright claims
One day you're feelingbold, or perhaps temporarily insane, andyou walk into a tattoo parlor to get inked up. Congratulations, you're the proud owner of the art now displayed on your skin and you can flaunt it however you wish. Not so fast.
A growing body of case law derived from a series of high-profile lawsuits suggests that ultimately it's the tattoo artist-not the person who bears the tattoo-who owns the rights to that tattoo.
Copyright law protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, including anything from paint on a canvas to sculpted clay to a piece of music.
And now it's increasingly clear that the law also applies to ink on skin.
"Of course tattoos can be copyrighted," said Judge Catherine D. Perry in a 2011 federal court hearing involving boxer Mike...