Copyrightability Of Tattoos: Analysing The Challenges And Possibilities Of Recognising Tattoos As A Piece Of Work
Shreyasee Mukherjee, Department of Law, Burdwan University
ABSTRACT
Tattoo is an age-old art that has been flourishing since time immemorial, yet it is left to be wholly recognised by the copyright legal regime. The trend of tattooing has been increasing manifold making the area of research important for future litigations. The tattoo requires certain rights to be conferred on the medium of the work, since the recipient who gets the tattoo done on their body must be able to communicate it to the world. Thus, the question arises, if at all tattoo work is recognised, who may be considered as the copyright-holder, the artist who has created the tattoo or the recipient who is bearing the tattoo? The need for a concrete status to tattoos is important both artistically and economically. In the absence of the same, tattoo artists may lose control over the work and artists may have no encouragement for fostering creativity. On the other hand, the recipient would not enjoy the work done as long as the work does not entail right to display, communicate or even remove the work as per the discretion of the client and that’s the conflict of interest dealt by the paper.
