A jury found on Friday that celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D did not infringe on a photographer's copyright when she used a portrait of Miles Davis as the basis for a tattoo she put on a friend's arm.
A Los Angeles jury deliberated for just over two hours before deciding that the former 'Miami Ink' and 'LA Ink' reality star's tattoo was not similar enough to photographer Jeffrey Sedlik's 1989 portrait of the jazz legend they needed to have paid leave.
“Obviously I'm very happy that this is over,” said Von D, who inked her friend's hand with Davis as a gift about seven years ago, outside the courtroom. “It's been a nightmare two years worrying about this, not only for myself but for my fellow tattoo artists.”
The eight jurors reached the same verdict on a drawing Von D made from the portrait to base the tattoo on, and several social media posts she made about the process, which were also part of Sedlik's lawsuit. And they found that the tattoo, design and posts also fell under the legal doctrine of fair use of a copyrighted work, giving Von D and other tattoo artists who supported her and followed suit a resounding overall victory.
“We've said all along that this case should never have been brought,” Von D's attorney Allen B. Grodsky he said after the verdict. “The jury recognized that this was just ridiculous.”
Sedlik's lawyer Robert Edward Allen said they plan to appeal. He said the images, which both featured a close-up of Davis looking at the viewer and making a “shh” gesture, were so similar that he did not know how the jury could reach the conclusion they did.
“If those two things are not substantially similar, then nobody's art is safe,” Allen said.
He told jurors during closing arguments earlier Friday that the case “has nothing to do with tattoos.”
“This is about copying copyrighted works of others,” Allen said. “It's not going to hurt the tattoo industry. The tattoo police aren't going after anyone.”
Allen highlighted the meticulous work Sedlik did to set up the shot, create the lighting and mood, and put Davis in the pose that would make an iconic photo first published on its cover JAZZ magazine in 1989. Copyrighted by Sedlik in 1994.
And he said that subsequently, licensing the image to others, including tattoo artists, was an important part of how he made a living.
Von D said during the three-day trial that she never licenses the images she recreates and considers work like the Davis tattoo to be a form of “fan art.”
“I made zero money out of it,” he testified. “I don't mass produce anything. I think there is a big difference.”
Grodsky's lawyer stressed to jurors that this absence of an attempt to cash in on the image was necessary for the tattoo to be a form of fair use, an exception under copyright law used for works such as commentary, criticism and parody.
Allen argued in his closing that the social media posts about the tattoo were a promotion for her and her studio, and therefore a form of monetizing the image.
Had the jury sided with Sedlik, they could have awarded him as little as a few hundred dollars or as much as $150,000.
Von D was among the stars of the reality series “Miami Ink” and then was the artist on the spinoff “LA Ink,” which aired on TLC from 2007 to 2011.
The 41-year-old Von D, whose legal name is Katherine von Drachenberg, was already a prominent young tattoo artist when she became a television personality through her appearances on TLC's “Miami Ink,” beginning in 2005 on TLC. She was the main star of its spinoff, “LA Ink,” which ran from 2007 to 2011 and made her perhaps the most famous tattoo artist in the country.
Von D said that despite the win, she's not excited about getting back to work.
“I don't think I want to get a tattoo again, my heart has been broken in so many ways,” she said. “We'll see in time.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/kat-von-d-wins-miles-davis-tattoo-copyright-trial-1235590901/
