Tattoo Worth a Thousand Words!

Word on the street is that a law suit was in the works between Warner Bros. and the tattoo artist who did the famous face piece on Mike Tyson. The artist, named S. Victor Whitmill, was not so thrilled with the decision that the Warner Bros. made to use his one of a kind art work in the Hangover 2 sequel. Whitmill went on to say that the company did not bother to reach out to him for his consent. Stating that the tattoo is copyrighted. Warner Bros. did not make any comments during the case and solved everything with a settlement. The movie proceeded to premier on time in theaters.

I can see where both parties are coming from sort of. I have a couple of tattoos myself, and each one are pieces I found simply by going on google images. Did I ask any of those artists if I could use their image? No, I did not. Simply because once a picture is on the internet, it’s kind of easy to just run with it. However, this case is a little different because his work is actually copyrighted.

I am no expert when it comes to the law, but I’m pretty sure Whitmill wouldn’t have made such a big deal if it was a regular guy or female on the street with the same tattoo that he created. I am not saying that Warner Bros. was in the right here, because they most definitely should have reached out to Whitmill for his permission to use his art. Even if it was fake and just for a movie. It’s about the principle and the respect.

I feel like Whitmill was just looking to get some money in the end. And I’m pretty sure Warner Bros. gave him more than enough to drop everything and let them off the hook. In the end, I know that there are several people with that tattoo. These people just aren’t big enough to grab the attention of Whitmill.

If I was Whitmill, I would take this as the company and the writers acknowledging his talents. They could have used anyone else’s art work, but they chose the iconic face tattoo on Mike Tyson. I think it was unnecessary to try and stop the movie from being released. That was a little too much but he could have reached out and asked for them to maybe credit him in the film or something. In the end, I’m sure Whitmill got what he wanted, which was obviously the money.

SOURCES:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/mike-tyson-tattoo-artist-sues-183716