You paid for it, you sat through it, and it is on your body permanently. You almost certainly do not own the copyright in it. Under Indian law the tattoo artist does — and that matters most to exactly the people who think about their tattoos hardest.
A short history
The evolution of tattoos is as interesting as the art. Europeans encountered permanent designs among the peoples they met on voyages of discovery; tattoos became a craze in Europe, then faded, and were later used by criminals and by the justice system alike — to brand offenders as a form of punishment and shame. From there they became a sign of freedom of expression, and are now closer to the norm than the exception.
At the end of the day a tattoo is a work of art and an expression of the artist. It is just that the canvas is a person’s skin.
The US position
In the great tattoo haven, tattoos are treated as works of art protectable under US copyright law as a pictorial, graphic or sculptural work permanently affixed to a canvas. Absent an express agreement, the artist owns the copyright.
That produced a memorable lawsuit. In 2011, tattoo artist Victor Whitmill sued Warner Bros. over The Hangover Part II, in which Stu wakes up with Mike Tyson’s facial tattoo — Whitmill’s work — recreated without his consent. The case settled for an undisclosed sum.
How the US law developed. The question kept recurring, principally over video games depicting tattooed athletes. In Solid Oak Sketches v. 2K Games (2020), a US court held that reproducing tattoos on players in a basketball game was de minimis, and that the artists had granted an implied licence for the wearers to appear in public with their tattoos, including in media. Later cases have been less uniform, but the direction of travel favours the person wearing the tattoo when the use is incidental to depicting them.
The Indian position
The Copyright Act, 1957 defines an artistic work as a painting, a sculpture, a drawing (including a diagram, map, chart or plan), an engraving or a photograph, whether or not any such work possesses artistic quality — and, for an artistic work other than a photograph, the author is the artist.
A tattoo is a work of art — almost a painting, a drawing, an engraving. It therefore falls within artistic work. Unlike US law, the Indian Act says nothing about a canvas, which removes one complication. Publication means making the work available to the public to be seen, heard or read — which a visible tattoo plainly is. A tattoo is accordingly an artistic work, created by an author and published, and capable of protection under Section 13.
Who owns it
Under Section 17, the first owner of copyright is the author — here, the tattoo artist. Yes: though the tattoo is on your body, the artist owns it.
That is not the end of the road. You can become the owner by:
- A contract of service signed before you go under the needle. In that case the employer — you — owns the copyright. This is the clean solution, and it costs nothing but forethought.
- An assignment under Section 18. An existing or future copyright owner may assign the copyright wholly or in part. An assignment of future copyright takes effect only when the work comes into existence, and is valid only when signed by the assignor or a duly authorised agent.
There are other routes — relinquishment by the owner, or a licence. Explaining them all would turn this into a copyright exam answer.
On a lighter note, you could also become the owner when copyright expires — though that means waiting sixty years after the artist’s death. Not recommended, though the permanence of the tattoo is an advantage if you outlive them.
The practical advice
It is not enough to be picky about your tattoo artist and focus solely on the design, their reputation and safety. Make sure there are express terms and conditions, and discuss intellectual property rights with the artist.
If you are serious about owning the tattoo, and investing significant time, effort, money and skin, it is worth taking legal advice before getting inked. This matters most for celebrities and athletes, for whom a tattoo can be part of their brand and identity — and who are likely to appear in advertising, films and games where the tattoo is reproduced. Those are precisely the situations that have generated litigation elsewhere.
And if you want to copy a tattoo you saw on a favourite actor, musician or sportsperson — make sure you are not infringing their artist’s copyright either.
Better to bear the pain once and be done with it, whether that is the tattoo or the agreement about who owns it.
The takeaways
- A tattoo is an artistic work protectable under Section 13.
- The artist is the first owner under Section 17 — not the wearer.
- A contract before, or an assignment after, transfers ownership to you.
- It matters most for public figures whose image gets reproduced commercially.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the copyright in a tattoo in India? The tattoo artist, as author and first owner under Section 17 — unless there is a contract of service or an assignment transferring it.
Can I get ownership of a tattoo on my own body? Yes — through a contract of service signed before the work is done, or an assignment under Section 18 afterwards, signed by the artist.
Is a tattoo protected by copyright at all? Yes — it qualifies as an artistic work under the Copyright Act, 1957, being in the nature of a painting, drawing or engraving.
Can I copy a celebrity’s tattoo? Doing so may infringe the copyright of the artist who created it, so it is worth checking before you get inked.
Useful official resources
- The Copyright Act, 1957
- Copyright Office, India