PLAGIARISM
I would like to spend a few words answering this question:
Can I search the web for a design I like and take it to my tattoo artist to have it done exactly the same?
NO, you can’t
plagiarism is a crime, even for tattoos
I know it’s common practice to do it this way:
open Google and/or Pinterest, search for the designs I want to get tattooed, find a design I like, take the design to Peppino, the tattoo artist in the square near my house, and have it done exactly the same
well, it’s a crime, even if it’s common practice
all tattoos in the WORLD are protected by copyright as an artistic creation
this is also an international law
it doesn’t work like a logo that you have to register to have the rights; no, it works automatically:
the artwork is protected by copyright
and precisely because the copyright is born the moment the artwork is created, copyright cannot be transferred to third parties
so I can sell you a tattoo, but I can’t sell you the copyright on that design
let me give you a small example:
my name is CocaCola, and I want to redesign my logo, change it, modernize it
so I call a graphic designer and say, “Hey graphic designer, will you redesign the logo for me?”
one fine day, the graphic designer who has redesigned the logo comes along and delivers it to me
I pay him, and he goes home happy
who has the copyright on the logo?
CocaCola, of course
not the graphic designer
because logos are not born with the right to copyright; the law grants it
and so the graphic designer who created the design is paid for his work, and the copyright belongs to CocaCola
I, on the other hand, as a tattoo artist, as soon as I create a tattoo, my copyright is born with it
it’s a right from birth
and I can’t sell it
it’s mine alone
I can sell you the tattoo, but not the copyright
I am the author, and that’s that
the law says so
just like for kings and princes:
they are born with a birthright to the throne and cannot sell it
they can’t take the blood out of their veins, sell the blood to the neighbor next door, and tell him that now he is the king
you are born a king and remain a king
Heads of state, on the other hand, are declared heads of state by law, through a long process and procedures
so the logo is protected by copyright through the law, with procedures and formalities
whereas a work of art has only one author who can be defined as such
a bit like Picasso’s paintings
in short, Picasso didn’t take all his canvases one by one and take them to the lawyer to file for copyright
nor did Leonardo Da Vinci
his right was born with the work
and you can’t take a canvas and copy Guernica or the Mona Lisa and resell them
because it’s called plagiarism
and it’s a crime punishable by law
gravely
You become a counterfeiter if you copy a tattoo, just as if you were copying Guernica
the law makes no distinction between me and Picasso
in any case, it’s plagiarism
and if you copy a design found on the web, you are literally a counterfeiter (if you are the tattoo artist) or you are buying counterfeit works (if you are the person getting the tattoo)
in any case, you are in trouble ^_^
if you want to know all the various articles of the civil code that are violated, you can ask your lawyer, but here are some important words:
all rights reserved
the work is protected by copyright
any reproduction, total or partial use of the work, including adaptation, dissemination, or distribution without the author’s permission, is prohibited
with love, but always irreverent
