Copying ink? Tat’s just not on
THERE’S an unwritten rule in New Zealand – decent tattoo artists don’t copy designs.
Right now the Copyright Act 1994 is under review, and artists such as House of Natives founder Gordon Toi say stricter legislation could protect original tattoo designs.
‘‘I would like to see some kind of governance over Ma¯ori tattooing and Polynesian tattooing ... there’s so much exploitation.’’
Original designs were often replicated – often overseas – without anyone even talking to the New Zealand artist, he said.
‘‘Skin is probably the hardest thing to copyright, because everyone is copying it.’’
Pacific Tattoo owner Tim Hunt wants artists to respect the meaning of Ma¯ori and Pacific cultural patterns and symbols.
‘‘I want more tattoo artists to stand up and say: ‘I don’t know enough about it, I don’t know the history behind it, and I don’t know the context behind it’.’’
Overseas, tattoo artists replicate images without a second thought. But New Zealand was different, he said.
‘‘It’s kind of an unspoken code in New Zealand that you just don’t do that.’’
Hunt believes the customer owned the tattoo, not the artist.
Union Tattoo owner Craigy Lee agrees there is an unwritten code of conduct to not copy a custom tattoo.
Decent artists would not dare to make money from someone else’s design, he said.
University of Auckland associate professor Alex Sims said that many tattoo artists who copy work are technically infringing the original copyright – under the banner of artwork.
However, Sims cautioned against strict enforcement of copyright laws on tattoos, which could include removal of tattoos, preventing the tattoos’ MONIQUE FORD/STUFF appearance in films and advertisements, or requiring the removal of tattoos from social media.
‘‘It would give the copyright owner the power to control images of a person, which would be extremely concerning and just wrong.’’