"NBA 2K" Maker Wins Dismissal Of Lawsuit Over Depictions Of Players' Tattoos

The popular "NBA 2K" video game series yesterday "won the dismissal of a potentially large damages claim in a lawsuit over its depiction of tattoos" belonging to Cavaliers F LeBron James, Suns G Eric Bledsoe, Clippers C DeAndre Jordan and former NBAers Kenyon Martin and Kobe Bryant, according to Jonathan Stempel of REUTERS. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain in N.Y. said that Take-Two Interactive Software, the company behind the "NBA 2K" series, "cannot be held liable to the plaintiff Solid Oak Sketches LLC for statutory damages of as much as $150,000 per copyright infringement, a sum that in theory could reach billions of dollars." Solid Oak can still "pursue actual damages" over Take-Two's "alleged unauthorized incorporation into 'NBA 2K16' of eight tattoo designs that the plaintiff had licensed from various artists" (REUTERS, 8/2).