INVERNESS, Fla. (WFTS) — For Danny Belden, work doesn't really feel like work.
"I really enjoy this, and I hope my clients do too," he said.
Belden enjoys getting to talk to people. He loves art, too. At Twistid Ink, he gets to do both.
But, in the back of his mind, concern is brewing.
"I may be out of a job soon. Who knows?" he said.
Belden and so many other tattoo artists throughout the country have their eyes on famous tattoo artist Kat Von D right now. It's not for inspiration, though.
She's at the center of a copyright battle. Photographer Jeffrey Sedlik claims she tattooed a version of his well-known photo of Miles Davis, but she never got permission, and he was never credited or compensated.
This has now become a matter of fair use. Von D used the photo as a reference to tattoo her version of the image.
Artists far and wide said this could potentially rock the industry.
"Everything is going to change from here on out in our lives as we know it as creative people are going to be completely turned upside down by this lawsuit," Belden said.
Elisha Belden handles the business side of Twistid Ink. She explained if the judge rules in favor of Sedlik, it could mean big changes for what tattoo artists can do and how quickly they can get it done.
"If the judge rules in favor of the photographer, it opens the door for a lot of further issues. Portrait work is usually freehand, but they use reference images. At that point, they're no longer able to use the reference images. So all tattoos of portraits are, are basically out the window," she said.
It would also mean pop culture tats would become more difficult to get.
"I can't tell you how many people that I've come across in my career that have Tweety Bird as our very first tattoo. That's going to be out of the water just because you don't want to get sued by Warner Brothers or Looney Tunes and all that stuff like this. It's gonna change everything," Danny added.
In fact, the team has even run into issues with work that wouldn't technically be a portrait or pop culture image.
"I had a client contact me wanting a tattoo of some dark calligraphy. And before I could give a price and do the piece, we had to do a reverse image search on Google and find where that piece came from. And it takes time to do it. And we found another artist here in Central Florida that was the original creator of the art. And on her website, it said that she does not allow other tattoo artists to recreate her artwork, which if I would have tattooed it on that person and not checked, which I'm sure a lot of people do, it would have opened me up for the same situation," he recalled.
"And I mean, being a small business, which 99% of tattoo shops are that could, that could end your career, that could end your business, your livelihood that can shut down your shop," he added.
It could even add an extra cost burden to getting a tattoo.
"From a financial point of view. It's going to hurt the overhead of the shop owners, the tattoo artists," Elisha said. "First, you have to decide who is responsible for getting the licensing. Is it the tattoo shop? Is it the tattoo artist? Because a lot of tattoo artists are 1099 independent contractors? Is the client responsible for getting that licensing?"
Just news of the possible changes looming is even giving pause to people anticipating their next tattoo.
"I already thought of my next tattoo. Yeah, so yeah, now I'm worried. So I want a Raven on my arm. So, does Edgar Allan Poe own that? Or Baltimore? I am a Ravens fan. That's part of it, right?" Oberholtz said.
Which could lead to fewer walk-in customers as well.
"It also puts a stop to a lot of walk-in pieces. Because you would have to go through the licensing process. It takes time, and you can't just immediately walk into a shop and be like, 'I want that one', without a complete restructure of the industry," Elisha added,
Until a ruling comes down, it's all leaving tattoo artists and lovers a little more cautious about what they put on their bodies.
