WWE and Take-Two Facing Legal Issue Over Randy Orton's Tattoos

Take-Two is headed to court, so that it can be decided if Randy Orton's tattoos as represented in their video games constitutes copyright infringement.

The lawsuit claims that Catherine Alexander, Orton’s tattoo artist, owns the art that she put into Orton's sleeves. According to Alexander, the WWE representative laughed at her when she pitched a license for them to use her tattoo work in the game.

A judge in Illinois recently rejected Take-Two’s request for a summary judgment. Instead, the judge granted a partial summary judgment to Alexander. The judge found that WWE and Take-Two Interactive had copied her work officially, and that she may have suffered damages as a result.

“Defendants argue the evidence establishes that consumers do not purchase WWE 2K because of the tattoos. But other evidence shows that consumers did purchase WWE 2K for its authenticity to the wrestlers’ appearance,” the ruling states. “In particular, Defendants admit that consumer response is a consideration to their development of WWE 2K and the design choices made. They also acknowledge that consumers expect there to be authenticity in the videogames and that WWE would have rejected Orton’s videogame persona if it appeared without his tattoos or appeared with tattoos that were different than Orton’s actual tattoos.”