A jury in Los Angeles recently cleared celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D (“KVD”) of copyright infringement.
Plaintiff Jeffrey Sedlik, an award-winning photographer, took an iconic photograph of world-famous jazz musician Miles Davis. Sedlik is the sole and exclusive owner of the copyright for the portrait which was first published in 1989 and registered in 1994 (“the Photograph”). Sedlik has previously licensed the Photograph, authorising certain reproductions, distributions, displays, and other derivative works throughout the over 30 years since he first published the Photograph.
KVD—birth name Katherine Von Drachenberg—has appeared on several reality television shows and is well known for her expertise in black and grey portrait tattoos. In 2017, KVD inked a tattoo of Miles Davis (“the Tattoo”) onto the arm of a previous co-worker for free. For reference, her co-worker provided her with a copy of the Photograph. KVD used tracing paper to create an initial stencil to transfer the drawing onto her co-worker’s skin. Throughout the process of inking the Tattoo, KVD social media accounts posted photos that depicted her working on the Tattoo with a printout of the portrait as reference.
