Maker Of "NBA2K" Sued For Using Player Tattoos Without Permission From Rights Holder

A company that owns the right to tattoos on athletes "is suing Take-Two Interactive and Visual Concepts," makers of video game franchise "NBA2K," for "graphically representing those tattoos on NBA players without its permission," according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. Solid Oak Sketches yesterday filed suit in New York federal court, saying that "particular tattoos depicted on players in the recent game NBA2K16 was the company's copyrighted work." The eight infringed-on designs "include a child's portrait and script scrolls with clouds and doves on LeBron James' forearms and butterflies on Kobe Bryant's arm." Solid Oak Sketches "got the copyrights to most of the tattoos last year." The company offered Take-Two "a license to the tattoos" for $1.1M (ESPN.com, 2/1).