A jury has ruled in favor of a tattoo artist who sued WWE, Take-Two Interactive Software, 2K Games, Inc., 2K Sports, Inc., and developers Visual Concepts Entertainment, Yuke’s Co., Ltd. and Yuke’s LA Inc.. for infringing upon her copyrights when they used her tattoos for Randy Orton’s character in WWE’s video game. The jury ruled that the defendants failed to prove that the tattoos were considered fair use and that the plaintiff, Catherine Alexander, was within her rights to sue for damages. The jury also decided that she was entitled to $3,750 for WWE and 2K using her designs in the game.
The lawsuit, first filed in 2018, alleged that all of Alexander’s tattoo work on WWE star Randy Orton are her own original designs that she alone owns the rights to and her claim was that the defendants infringed on her copyrights as she had not given them permission to use them in WWE-licensed videogames. It is not yet known what damages WWE and the other defendants will be required to pay and it’s still possible that they could appeal the decision.
