Superstar tattoo artist Kat Von D is being sued by photographer Jeff Sedlik for utilizing his {photograph} of Miles Davis for a tattoo on certainly one of her shoppers. The photographer is accusing Von D of copyright infringement, as she used his picture with out permission.
The enduring picture of Miles Davis was taken by Jeff Sedlik in 1989 for a canopy story in JAZZIZ journal. This picture then went on to be revealed in a number of magazines around the globe, together with Life journal. In March 2017, Kat Von D then used this photograph to create a tattoo for a shopper.
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Kat Von D owns a tattoo enterprise known as High Voltage Tattoo, which relies in Hollywood and was featured in a TLC actuality collection known as LA Ink. It has been reported that Kat Von D did not have a license to make use of or reproduce the picture from Sedlik and did not even try to request permission from the photographer.
On 7 February 2021, Sedlik filed a complaint in a federal courtroom primarily based in California. Sedlik is reportedly demanding that Von D removes any photos depicting his {photograph} from her social media. He is additionally asking for damages as much as $150,000, plus authorized charges.
Sedlik supplied an official statement to Billboard, “Ms. Von Drachenberg not solely used Mr. Sedlik’s {photograph} with out permission or license, however took credit score for Mr. Sedlik’s creation as her personal, distributing images of her illegal derivate work to hundreds of thousands of social media followers, and supplying these images to publishers for inclusion of promotional editorials about Ms. Von Drachenberg and her varied business ventures.”
An article on Copyright These days discusses a few of the potential factors that might seem within the case. “The almost definitely copyright protection for Von D to claim is honest use, on the speculation that her tattoo remodeled the unique picture indirectly by altering it with a brand new that means or message.”
The talk of honest use will undoubtedly be a serious a part of this case. Producing a tattoo is not a easy as pushing a button to print a picture. Sure expertise and abilities are required. Having mentioned that, the courts might discover that the tattoo would not change sufficient of the picture for it to warrant honest use.
Both method, the end result of this case might have a long-lasting impression on future copyright instances and honest use sooner or later.
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