3 Count: Tattoo Trial

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1: Kat Von D Claims Miles Davis Tattoo Is ‘Fair Use’ at Unusual Copyright Trial

First off today, Nancy Dillon at Rolling Stone reports that the trial involving tattoo artist Kat Von D has started, pitting the celebrity against a photographer who claims she used his work without permission to create a tattoo for a friend.

The lawsuit was filed by photographer Jeffrey Sedik, who took a photo of musician Miles Davis in 1989 and registered it with the US Copyright Office in 1994. Von D used that photo as a reference when creating a tattoo for her friend and used that tattoo to promote her services on various social media platform.

According to Von D, the photo was used as inspiration and nothing more. She alleges that there are significant differences between the work and that any overlap is a fair use. Sedik is claiming that the tattoo is an infringing derivative work based on his photo. The trial is ongoing.

2: Uniqlo’s Fashion Fury: Shein’s ‘Mary Poppins Bag’ Mimicry Sparks Legal Battle

Next up today, Storyboard 18 writes that fashion brand Uniqlo has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against fast fashion giant Shein alleging that Shein copied their famous “Mary Poppins Bag” to sell a cheaper version on their site.

The lawsuit was filed in Tokyo and alleges that Shein, and the three companies that operate it, infringed on their copyrights by creating the knock off bag that was sold on the Shein website for a lower price.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series against Shein, which has been targeted by multiple fashion brands for their low-cost imitations. Uniqlo has nearly 2,500 stores in 26 countries and their version of the bag normally sells for 1,500 yen, or roughly $20.

3: Palworld Mods Rush to Avoid Nintendo as the Pokemon Takedowns Start

Finally today, Will Nelson at PCGamesN reports that the Palword modding community has been the subject of several takedowns and legal threats by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company over planned mods that included Pokémon characters and other examples of their intellectual property.

Palworld was just released into early access and has been a runaway success, selling millions of copies. However, the game has drawn criticism for characters and models that bear a close resemblance to Nintendo’s Pokémon series of games, albeit with very different gameplay.

However, modders wanted to take things a step further and put actual Pokemon characters in the game, posting videos and starting projects announcing as such. However, many of those videos have been taken down following copyright notices filed by Nintendo and modders are now backing away from those projects due to the legal risks.

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