LeBron James' 4-year-old tattoo lawsuit against NBA 2K video game dismissed in court

The LeBron James tattoo lawsuit has finally been dismissed after four years. The lawsuit has been dismissed and will allow NBA 2K to include tattoos of the Lakers star. Tattoo studio Solid Oak Sketches had sued Take-Two Interactive in 2016 for unauthorized reproduction of tattoo designs for NBA 2k16. 

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Lakers star LeBron James tattoo lawsuit: Manhattan judge dismisses the LeBron James tattoo lawsuit

Manhattan federal judge Laura Swain dismissed the lawsuit in Take-Two Interactive and NBA 2K's favour. After taking expert advice, Swain concluded that the tattoos appear only on players that are inked, which are three out of the total 400 players. The display of tattoos was said to be 'small and indistinct', only appearing while the figures moved rapidly. She even added that no tattoo was included while NBA 2K was being marketed.

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Lakers LeBron James tattoo lawsuit: Tattoo studio started the LeBron James tattoo lawsuit

Solid Oak Sketches had valued both tattoos at around $819,500 and asked for a total sum of $1,144,000. This would include the perpetual license to use the tattoo designs within the game and also on the cover. The tattoo studio owns the copyright for multiple tattoos on the eight players included in the game – James, Kobe Bryant, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe. They believed that since the Lakers star was the face of the game, their marketing value is at least four times more than the rest of the tattoos. The tattoos were called “Child Portrait,” “330 and Flames” and “Script with a Scroll, Clouds and Doves.”

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NBA 2020 season return date

The NBA season was suspended on March 11 after Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Though the league is trying to make a mid-June return, an NBA 2020 season return date is yet to be finalized. Even though the season might resume, the games are most likely to be played without an audience. 

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