did mike tyson remove his face tattoodid mike tyson have his face tattoo removed
While the outcome of the case was not precedential, Perry's comments were the first time that a government official commented on the copyrightability of tattoos. They were also significant in drawing a distinction between the tattoo's design and application. Despite the case settling, it prompted further discussion of the topic and speculation as to how the case might have proceeded if it had gone to trial.
"I knew from the start that I'd get no justice. I wasn't being tried in New York or Los Angeles; we were in Indianapolis, Indiana, historically one of the strongholds of the Ku Klux Klan. I had been found guilty by a jury of my "peers," only one of whom was Black.
Dominating the ring between 1987-1990, Tyson is the youngest ever boxer to win a heavyweight title at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, but his career has also been controversial. He was convicted of rape in 1992 and served three years behind bars before returning to the ring, winning back several of his titles before his 1997 match against Evander Holyfield pretty much ended his career when Tyson bit off part of Holyfield’s ear.
Bradley and King agree that any license to Tyson would not extend to Warner Bros. recreating the tattoo on another person's face, but Bradley concludes that Warner Bros.' actions were nonetheless likely fair use, while King argues that the replication of the tattoo on Price's face was satire rather than parody and thus not protected by fair use under Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. Ultimately, Bradley writes that, even if a fair use defense failed, Whitmill would not have won significant damages, as he had only registered the copyright after the alleged infringement began and could thus only collect on compensatory damages.
Tyson's face tattoo quickly proved iconic and has become strongly associated with him. Its Māori influence has been controversial, spurring claims of cultural appropriation. In 2011, Whitmill filed a copyright suit against Warner Bros. for using the design on the character Stu Price in The Hangover Part II. Warner Bros. responded with a number of defenses, including that tattoos are not copyrightable; supporting them, scholar David Nimmer argued that it violated the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution—which prohibits slavery—to give Whitmill copyright over part of Tyson's body. After initial comments by Judge Catherine D. Perry denying an injunction but affirming that tattoos are copyrightable, Whitmill and Warner Bros. settled for undisclosed terms, without disruption to the release of the film.
While the tattoo now is almost two decades old, it remains a prime identity for Mike Tyson. Recently, Resorts World in Las Vegas inaugurated a 10 feet statue of Tyson, outside the Mulberry Street Pizzeria. The statue is of a young Mike Tyson in his 20s, when he didn’t have the tattoo. But it still imprinted the ink on the statues that we saw. This portrays the popularity of Tyson’s face tattoo and ‘Iron’ reflected it yet again on his social media.
