Tattoos are undoubtedly a form of self-expression and art but it turns out that your skin might actually belong to someone else as soon as the tattoo artist makes the first mark.
If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly stinging to add to your ever-growing ink collection that initially started with ‘one, small one on your wrist’, but somehow turned into two half-sleeves.
(I have no regrets but I honestly don’t know how it happened.)
It wasn’t until my last tattoo that I started to think, ‘who actually owns this?’
I made a video getting the GOAT company logo tattooed to my arm while reiterating thoughts that run through my head while getting a tattoo, and quite frankly, it’s a bangin’ video.
Thoughts I didn’t consider before getting the tattoo included, but are not limited to: what rights does the company have over my tattoo? Do I own it? Does my tattoo artist own it?
And the pièce de résistance, Do I owe someone money?
I started quaking in my boots because I’m a millennial with an undiagnosed spending problem and thirst for bad decisions so obviously, I’m too broke for any kind of lawsuit.
Upon some deep-diving, it turns out you, the client, have absolutely no ownership over your tattoos whatsoever.
Everything belongs to the artist.
Robin Richardson specialises in intellectual property cases for KISCH IP. He states,
Tattoos are classified as an artistic work under the Copyright Act and therefore only the owner of the work may reproduce or adapt it.
Every time a person takes a picture of their tattoo and posts it on social media, they are infringing the copyright of the work’s owner.
The same principles apply when requesting a custom design based on an image on the Internet.
Although it may be adapted and thus considered a new work, it would still be infringing the copyright of the original work’s owner.
This goes for all you stannies out there with hidden One Direction logo tatts and that one girl at schoolies that got free chicken for life for inking the KFC logo on her foot – you don’t own that part of your body anymore.
The reality is that if those tattoo artists or original logo designers wanted to, they could totally sue you.
Ariana Grande can get a little Eevee tattoo, and not really stress because, she’s Ariana Grande and she can afford the lawsuit.
Just do yourself a favour and think before you ink.