When LeBron James bounds down a basketball court, he is both a transcendent athlete and a prominent palette for dozens of tattoos. Although those tattoos have personal connections, they may not truly be his. What many people don’t realize, legal experts said, is that the copyright is inherently owned by the tattoo artist, not the person with the tattoos. Lawyers generally agree that an implied license allows people to freely display their tattoos in public, including on television broadcasts or magazine covers. But when tattoos are digitally recreated on avatars in sports video games, copyright infringement can become an issue.

Source: New York Times December 27, 2018 10:00 UTC