When Victor Whitmill saw the trailer for the Hangover II movie (which is expected to be released next week) he literally saw an opportunity staring at him right in the face... right off the face of one of the characters in the movie.
Before you ask (I had to), who the heck is Victor Whitmill let me just say he is a tattoo artist; but more importantly the tattoo artist responsible for the famous face tattoo on one-time world heavy weight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
According to an MSNBC broadcast Whitmill claimed that his design was one of the most distinctive in the United States and that when it was created, "Mr. Tyson agreed Mr. Whitmill would own the artwork and thus the copyright."
Whitmill is now suing Warner Bros., the film's producers, for “copyright infringement.”
The MSNBC broadcast continued “the lawsuit claims Warner Bros. pirated the tattoo and that tattoo is not only central to the story line of the movie, but it's also a big part of the movie's promotion. Artist Whitmill says he wants an injunction preventing the movie's release and Whitmill says he's due an award of monetary damages sufficient to compensate for the injuries suffered.”
What injuries suffered?! I wonder if his decision motivated by the fact that the original 'Hangover' movie grossed than $277 million in the box office worldwide? The original movie even had Mike Tyson in a cameo role (and by default, Mr. Whitmill's allegedly copyrighted artwork), and as Warner Bros. oints out, in its 149-page response filed in court, “the artist never objected over the past two years to the use of Tyson's tattoo in the first "Hangover" movie.”
What is ridiculous is that the particular tattoo design on Tyson may be Whitmill's artwork, but the idea of placing the tattoo on Tyson's face was definitely not his own, it was probably Tyson's (would you want to inflict pain on the face of a man renowned for a) his short temper, and b) for his bone shattering left hook?).
Furthermore, Tyson's facial tattoo inspiration most likely came from the images he had seen of fierce facial tattoos inked on Maori warriors' faces centuries ago. Hardly original, Mr. Whitmill if you grab your interpretation from artwork that has been documented as a cultural heritage for centuries.
The original movie escaped making an imprint on Whitmill's pocketbook, it seems that he isn't going to let it happen again... even if it has him clutching at straws.
Thing is, granted Whitmill might own the copyright to the particular design on Tyson's face, but 1) from the trailer (see below) the tattoo doesn't look like its the same thing, and 2) he definitely doesn't have a copyright on tattoo placement on the face – the Maori beat him to it more than a 200 years ago.
Victor Whitmill has his 15 minutes – he should just move on...
Before you ask (I had to), who the heck is Victor Whitmill let me just say he is a tattoo artist; but more importantly the tattoo artist responsible for the famous face tattoo on one-time world heavy weight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
Whitmill is now suing Warner Bros., the film's producers, for “copyright infringement.”
The MSNBC broadcast continued “the lawsuit claims Warner Bros. pirated the tattoo and that tattoo is not only central to the story line of the movie, but it's also a big part of the movie's promotion. Artist Whitmill says he wants an injunction preventing the movie's release and Whitmill says he's due an award of monetary damages sufficient to compensate for the injuries suffered.”
What injuries suffered?! I wonder if his decision motivated by the fact that the original 'Hangover' movie grossed than $277 million in the box office worldwide? The original movie even had Mike Tyson in a cameo role (and by default, Mr. Whitmill's allegedly copyrighted artwork), and as Warner Bros. oints out, in its 149-page response filed in court, “the artist never objected over the past two years to the use of Tyson's tattoo in the first "Hangover" movie.”
What is ridiculous is that the particular tattoo design on Tyson may be Whitmill's artwork, but the idea of placing the tattoo on Tyson's face was definitely not his own, it was probably Tyson's (would you want to inflict pain on the face of a man renowned for a) his short temper, and b) for his bone shattering left hook?).
Furthermore, Tyson's facial tattoo inspiration most likely came from the images he had seen of fierce facial tattoos inked on Maori warriors' faces centuries ago. Hardly original, Mr. Whitmill if you grab your interpretation from artwork that has been documented as a cultural heritage for centuries.
The original movie escaped making an imprint on Whitmill's pocketbook, it seems that he isn't going to let it happen again... even if it has him clutching at straws.
Thing is, granted Whitmill might own the copyright to the particular design on Tyson's face, but 1) from the trailer (see below) the tattoo doesn't look like its the same thing, and 2) he definitely doesn't have a copyright on tattoo placement on the face – the Maori beat him to it more than a 200 years ago.
Victor Whitmill has his 15 minutes – he should just move on...
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