In 2017, Von D, whose legal name is Katherine Von Drachenberg, tattooed a likeness of an iconic photograph of jazz great Miles Davis onto a person.
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Two things:
About 40 years ago I decided I wanted the Colt Firearms emblem, the Rampant Colt, tattooed on the inside of my right forearm. I wrote Colt and asked permission, afraid that the artist wouldn't do it because it is copyrighted. They wrote me back and said, "Hell yeah, go for it. Send us a picture," in pretty much those exact words.
I went to a tattoo convention in San Francisco at the time Kat Von D was starring in that tattoo show on TV. It turns out she was supposed to be there, which I didn't know beforehand. I was there to see Lyle Tuttle.
She showed up to sign autographs for all her admiring fans, one of which wasn't me, although I happened to be bullshitting with the artist in a booth close by, so I got a good look at her.
The first thing I noticed was whoever does her makeup for the show must've been really, really good because that nice smooth complexion she had on TV wasn't all that smooth in real life, in fact, she was pretty acne scarred even though her makeup that day was caked on, and the second thing I noticed was she was dead drunk. I'm talking slurring her words drunk.
She hung out for about 15 minutes, signed a few autographs, and left.
So, can we see the colt tat on your arm?
ReplyDeleteThe design started bleeding after about 10 years and looked like shit, so I had it covered.
DeleteDid you get the tattoo?
ReplyDeleteI sure did.
DeleteBetting if she or the client had contacted the photographer, it would have been fine. I wonder though about the change in the medium for the art and how it comes into play.
ReplyDeleteMidwest Chick
Nobody needed to contact anybody. It's fair use.
DeleteGood luck to the photog's lawyers trying to argue that going from photograph to tattoo isn't "transformative." They're going to lose, and end up paying court fees and Kat D's lawyers because the case is so obviously based on nothing. It sounds more like the work of copyright trolls than anything.
So, will the guy have to cut off his arm?
ReplyDeleteYa know I haven't clue who these people are. Kinda makes me feel good after reading what ya had to say. No tv for going on thirty years and I select what news I choose to read on the computer. It pays of in big dividends for sure. I reckon I'm one of the most unhip bastards in the state.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a picture of James Gardner (rockford files) in a paper. He had freckles all over his face. Complexion was clear on TV. From then on I would see someone that looked good on TV (guy or girl) and figure I would not notice them in real life.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion - if a woman has nice legs she shouldn't do anything to break up the vertical line, and if she doesn't have nice legs she shouldn't do anything to call attention to them. I see these woman walking around with tats and I think: "All that beautiful white skin and you scribbled all over it."
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way: No, I don't want to know the deep meaning of the Chinese character you put on your wrist.
Kungpao chicken. Or broccoli beef.
Delete"Eat at Joe's"
DeleteWith six you get eggroll...
Deletewhen i was a kid in 64-5 there was an old navy vet next door that would come to eat supper with us every night. daddy would always invite the old bachelors over to eat with us, momma always made plenty. he had a tattoo of a hula girl on his forearm. he would move his arm around and say" watch her dance" i thought that was the coolest thing ever. RIP Mr Brown.
ReplyDeleteMy Marine Corps. father had a nekkid gal on his forearm. When Mom married him, she made him put a swim suit on her. - Mississloppigarro
DeleteI never had the desire to have a tattoo, but I still can appreciate those that are well done. If I were to get one today at my age, (62), it would be only done in shades of black. I like a beautifully done colored tattoo as much as the next person, but it seems that it is hard to find an artist who really does that kind well enough to make it worth it.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a lot of colored ones on young women/girls, that looked more like a cartoon than a statement that you want to carry with you for life.
As for Kat VD, it doesn't surprise me that she was drunk. She never impressed me the few times that I saw her on television. Of course, while I do have a television, and it is on mostly all day long, I am not watching it, my wife and 25 year old daughter are. I can't stand old sitcoms or game shows. I will read or something else, rather than pay any attention to the boob tube. I can chase a topic down the rabbit hole on the internet, like the Vietnam war, or the Berlin airlift. I never stopped learning, when I left high school. I figure that the day that I do, is the day that I begin to die.
All of mine are black which turns to a weird greenish blue over time. I don't have a drop of colored ink in me.
DeleteJust black and green.
DeleteWith the exception of my first two, gotten when I was 18, mine have all been drawn by me and the wife. Kinda partial to my artwork and hers.
ReplyDelete