NBA 2K21 Owner 2K Games Sued For Infringing Artist’s Tattoo Work

Both 2K Games Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. are being sued for copyright infringement for using an Ohio visual artist’s designs tattooed on basketball players including LeBron James, Danny Green, and Tristan Thompson in the video game NBA 2K21.

James Hayden, the artist who filed the lawsuit, has also been commissioned to create art by companies such as Nike, Inc., according to the complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Hayden’s tattoo designs have registered copyrights.

Take-Two and 2K Games were aware of alleged infringement on Hayden’s work by including the ...