The NBA 2K video game series has become one of the most popular in the world, but one of the downsides to being in the spotlight is the increased scrutiny and potential for litigation that comes with it. Rival publisher EA Sports has been the primary target of that over the years, taking on a number of lawsuits that have included the improper use of likenesses, price fixing, and the appearance of tattoos on players without having received permission from the artists.
Now it's Take Two, parent company of 2K Sports and developer Visual Concepts, that finds itself in the crosshairs.
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Solid Oak Sketches has filed a lawsuit over the unauthorized use of copyrighted tattoos in NBA 2K16. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, DeAndre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, and Kenyon Martin are the players in question that have the potentially infringing tattoos that Solid Oak Sketches claims ownership to. The company attempted to negotiate with Take Two before discussions were terminated, and seek over $800,000 in damages. They are also offering a perpetual licensing fee for an additional $1.1 million.
This is not the first time ownership issues of tattoos have been challenged. The most mainstream example may be the lawsuit over Mike Tyson's face tattoo being featured on a character in The Hangover movies. That one was settled, but had it not been, Warner Bros. was prepared to digitally alter the facial art for the film's home release.
In the video game world EA Sports has been forced to deal with the issue before. They were sued over a tattoo on Ricky Williams, who was the cover athlete of 2004's NFL Street. A settlement was reached.
A lawsuit over a prominent tattoo on fighter Carlos Condit was filed against the now-defunct THQ relating to their UFC franchise in 2012. The tattoo artist was awarded $22,500 after seeking $4 million, and later settled for an undisclosed amount after challenging the award as inadequate. EA later obtained the UFC license, and has scrubbed that specific tattoo from Condit for 2014's EA Sports UFC and the upcoming sequel this fall. EA Sports UFC 2 will also feature Phil "CM Punk" Brooks with some of his most recognizable tattoos altered due to copyright concerns.
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While the vast majority of tattoos remain in EA's sports titles like NBA Live and UFC, the one series where they are extremely rare is Madden NFL. In 2014, Colin Kaepernick was the only player in Madden with tattoos. In the latest release, Kapernick was joined by Odell Beckham Jr. and Martavis Bryant. They were the only players to get the necessary permission from their tattoo artists to include them in the game.
Madden is different from the other licensed sports games due in large part to the influence of the NFL Player's Association. In 2014 the NFLPA informed players their tattoos would not appear in products such as video games, on merchandise or in advertising where the art has to be reproduced without express written permission from the artists. That puts the onus on the players who need to make the effort to obtain it, and so far only those few have.
Fans of video game franchises like NBA 2K and EA UFC now should be worried that the games will become more generic looking starting with their next editions. Publishers aren't going to pay out money for the rights to the tattoos. The authenticity of the athlete likenesses in sports like basketball and MMA are far more important than football where the players are more covered up by their uniforms and helmets and gameplay cameras are zoomed out to a greater degree for the majority of the action.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, has co-founded the new site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.