Fans of the 2009 comedic hit The Hangover should be eagerly anticipating a court decision in Missouri, as Mike Tyson's tattoo artist continues to try and block the release of the sequel for what he claims is copyright infringement.
MSNBC.com reports that Warner Bros. filed a brief on Friday explaining why it thinks the release of The Hangover: Part II shouldn't be delayed, despite tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill's attempt to do so. Whitmill is seeking an injunction to delay the release of the movie for its use of Tyson's famous face tattoo, which appears in the sequel on the face of Ed Helms.
The film is set to be released later this week, so the studio is scrambling to get the legal issues squared away. The brief including a variety of reasons why the release shoudln't be able to push the release back.
"The very copyrightability of tattoos is a novel issue," Warner Bros. argued in the bried. "There is no legal precedent for Plaintiff's radical claim that he is entitled, under the Copyright Act, to control the use of a tattoo that he created on the face of another human being."
If Whitmill succeeds in his attempt to block the release of the movie, it would obviously be crippling for Warner Bros. According to the MSNBC report, a delay of the release would be a big-time hit financially, as the studio has obviously invested millions on advertising and promotion.
The studio also pointed out that a delay of the release would lead to the "virtual certainty" that the movie would be leaked, thus hurting the value of the film.
