Your Tattoo Can Be Someone Else’s IP

Could a court force removal? Probably not. But limiting activity that could be construed as “a commercial endeavor” is another story. It’s happening more and more, writes Shontavia Johnson, law professor and director of the Drake University Law School Intellectual Property Law Center. “Despite common sense to the contrary, copyright law and trademark law technically allow for such limitations on a person’s freedom.” This is mostly a legal battlefield populated by celebrities and high profile commercial enterprises, but not entirely. The plaintiff in one recent case was none other than the New York State Department of Economic Development.