WWE Faces Copyright Trial Over Randy Orton Tattoos in Video Game

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.‘s request for a pretrial ruling on claims that it infringed a tattoo artist’s copyrights by depicting her works in video games was denied by an Illinois federal court.

Catherine Alexander showed that the WWE and Take-Two copied tattoos she inked on wrestler Randy Orton in the “WWE 2K” video-game series. But the question of whether the companies had valid defenses to her claims can’t be resolved before trial, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois said.

Alexander said she created the tattoos between 2003 and 2008, and ...