A tattoo artist based on Route 66 in Waynesville, Mo., is suing Warner Bros. Pictures for copyright infringement because a tattoo that actor Ed Helms sports in the upcoming comedy “The Hangover Part II” resembles the artist’s original design, according to The Daily Mail in London.
S. Victor Whitmill co-owns Paradox Studio and Gallery, which is on Route 66 in Waynesville. Helms’ facial tattoo in the film strongly resembles the one on former boxing champ Mike Tyson, who made a prominent cameo in the first “Hangover” film and also appears in “Hangover II.”
Helms’ ill-advised facial tattoo can be seen on this “The Hangover Part II” movie poster here:
Tyson, the newspaper reported, first got the tattoo from Whitmill in 2003 when the artist lived in Las Vegas. Examples of Whitmill’s skin art can be found here (warning: nudity is included on a few of the designs).
On April 28, Mr Whitmill filed a motion in Federal District Court in St. Louis asking a judge to order Warner Brothers to stop using what he calls his ‘tribal tattoo’ in its posters or in the movie. That would effectively block the film from being released, or at least delay it until further editing.
Mr Whitmill is also seeking monetary damages for what he deemed ‘reckless copyright infringement’. […]
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit states: ‘Mr Whitmill has never been asked for permission for, and has never consented to, the use, reproduction or creation of a derivative work based on his original tattoo’.
On Friday, Warner Brothers responded to Judge Catherine D. Perry in a brief, pointing out that delaying the film at this point would be hugely expensive.
The studio condemned Mr Whitmill’s suit as a ‘radical claim that he is entitled, under the Copyright Act, to control the use of a tattoo that he created on the face of another human being’.
I strongly suspect the lawsuit will be dismissed on First Amendment grounds. The tattoo on Helms’ face is meant as parody, which is protected as free speech. The key legal precedent is the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court case Hustler Magazine vs. Falwell, when the porn publication infamously ribbed televangelist Jerry Falwell in a fake liquor ad.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the judge is expected to make a ruling on the requested injunction Tuesday.
UPDATE 5/24/2011: The judge, as expected, dismissed the lawsuit.
Did anybody know that in 1950-1956 the Hollywood actor Clint Walker from Cheyenne Bodie lived in Amboy, California he was employed by Mr. Rowl Crowl at Roy’s Motel Cafe. He was also assisting Mr. Herman Buster Burris working in the Amboy, Air-port hangar fixing airplanes. Rowl Crowl knew executives at Warner Brothers Studios and made the introduction. This is a confirmed!
I hope to see more route 66 in Warner Brothers movies There have been lots of Heavy Hollywood hitters made in Amboy, California.
I don’t like to see lawsuits like this to studios I like to see opportunities open up. Carlos Aceves royscafe66@yahoo.com