@sigross
Would it be possible to force a tattoo removal?
I would think -- no. That strikes me as unreasonable. I've never heard of a copyright case in which this was ordered by a judge. I won't rule out the possibility though.
What's at issue here isn't the image itself on the skin of the guy. Rather it's the reproduction of the image in photos and being actively used by Kat Von D to promote her business. Note that Sedlik did not include the guy with the tattoo in the lawsuit. In fact I'd bet, if asked Sedlik doesn't want to involve that guy at all.
But I'm a bit alarmed about some of the things in the case. Like potentially tattoo artists having to give credit to the photographer and tattooing the copyright notice under it. Like if it was printed in a magazine/newspaper! I think that's going a bit too far.
I would agree, if that is what a finding in favor of Sedlik meant. But it's not.
Let's break that down a bit:
What is required by copyright law is that you get permission from the IP owner before creating copies or derivatives.
Now part of that permission might be that the IP owner asks that a credit line be included so that potential other clients would know who created the image. Part of this is pride in the work, but a fair amount is simple promotion.
But a credit line is not required by either the IP owner or the magazine.
(BTW this is only true as of 1989. Before that if you wanted to maintain your copyright the IP owner had to include a symbol and the artist's name on the original and all copies of art. Now the copyright law inherently assumes the creator is the owner of the copyright)
So the article author who is imagining a scenario in which people are tattooed with credit lines is letting his fancy run away with him.
In practice a credit line is simply one of many details that would be clarified during the permission process. My guess is that most photographers (or any artist) when asked if their image can be tattooed onto someone would not require a credit line. (that just feels weird to me too)
But in the rare case that a photographer insisted on a credit line, then it's up to the person getting the tattoo to decided if they really want that image on their arm. After all they can always say "No thanks. I'll use a different image"