“You should know that the tattoo industry is a world where there is a lot of theft of intellectual property. And if you want to assert your rights, it is common to be reframed or even threatened by members of the profession. times, for example, when I wanted to assert my rights, I was told that the problem would be resolved with slaps…”
A young student was attacked by one of her 13-year-old classmates at the Waremme atheneum
Another author for a book
Despite this, Suzanne has not given up on the idea of having her work respected. “You know, it takes hours, sometimes days to create a design. So it’s normal to charge for the fruits of your labor. Then you have tattoo artists who don’t create anything, who copy your design and reproduce it for twice as expensive since they don’t spend time creating it. It’s like someone taking a book, putting their name in the author’s place and selling it to their bookstore. profits…”
“When I discovered that a tattoo artist was reproducing my drawings, without the slightest modification, I contacted him. Basically, he told me that everyone did it like that and that he didn’t have the intention to change my drawings were even in his catalog with the only modification, the withdrawal of my signature Via a lawyer specializing in copyright, I therefore sent him a formal notice which was not received. followed by effect”.
Liège: an undocumented migrant arrested for alleged theft, “I was just trying to warm up”
Customers are cheated too
Faced with this blockage, Suzanne therefore took legal action for counterfeiting against this unscrupulous tattoo artist. She has just won her case for two of her drawings.
And the tattoo artist drives home the point for tattoo artists and their clients. “It is illegal to use other people’s tattoos/designs. Contrary to what some tattoo artists would have you believe, everything on Pinterest (or other sites) was drawn by artists, and this does not does not authorize copying them, especially since drawings are posted there by strangers without the authorization of the artist and therefore without his knowledge. Customers are also cheated because they believe they are paying for a work. original Also in. Another scenario is that if they see a design they like online, they can ask for something similar, but not a carbon copy of someone else’s work.”
Before the company court, the tattoo artist was ordered to pay Suzanne the sum of 3,850 euros.
As we will read below, this conviction is a first… which is probably not likely to be the last on a much larger scale…
200,000 copies sold without his knowledge!
A few months ago, Suzanne also noticed that major online sales platforms had plagiarized two of her drawings to sell them as temporary tattoos.
“According to my information, Temu sold 200,000 copies at a price of €1.60 per unit. You can imagine! I contacted them and after my notice, they removed my drawings from the catalog, but the damage is done! For ethical reasons, I no longer sell these tattoos because they are no longer original. It is therefore me, the author of the drawings, who must withdraw these works from sale! A lady even brought me a T-shirt with my drawing and even my signature that she had bought in the South of France!
Bankruptcies
Beyond that, Suzanne is also worried about the profession in general.
-“Tattoo artists who have been established for years are closing down one after the other. They create works and have their creations stolen by unscrupulous tattooists who undercut the prices. They are no longer able to hold on. Many have congratulated me for my courage and my determination. But that must change.”
As such, the tattoo artist is part of the movement of tattoo artists in Belgium whose aim is to change things in the artistic field, but also with regard to respect for hygiene standards by professionals in the sector.
The small world of tattooing in numbers
– According to figures from the Federal Public Health Service, dating from 2017, 500,000 Belgians are marked with ink each year.
– The most tattooed in Europe would be the Italians where almost half of the population has a design on their skin.
– While there is archaeological evidence of tattoos on mummified skin dating back to the 4th millennium BC, the phenomenon took off in the 1990s when stars began decorating their bodies and high fashion took off. grasped by the phenomenon. There is no formal age limit, although minors are still legally under parental authority. In 2017, a directive comes into force which requires young people aged 16 to 18 to obtain permission from a parent or guardian.
– Finally, let us cite the 5 best practices for the client for a tattoo or piercing:
– I don’t let myself be tattooed or pierced on a whim, to “do like the others” without having taken the time to think about it.
– I only allow myself to be tattooed or pierced in a market, a fair, at home, etc. in a specially designed room.
– I don’t get pierced with a gun. This is only allowed for the earlobe.
– I never remove my jewelry before complete healing (unless medical advice). This can be a source of infection or contamination.
– I don’t let myself get tattooed on a mole! This would hamper the monitoring of its evolution.
