Tattoos, Tattooists, (Famous) Tattooed Persons & Copyright from a European Law Perspective

Several different cases in the US have lately shed some light on the application of copyright to tattoos. However, in Europe, this area is quite untested and just a few regional decisions can be identified. With the current popularity and social acceptance of tattoos in combination with the rise of social and interactive media in particular, the scope for future conflicts is quite apparent in the European arena too. What is the current legislative framework in Europe for dealing with potential cases in this area? Can predictions be made on the basis of what has been decided and agreed on so far at a European level? Can we perhaps learn or adopt from the cases in the US? A number of different possible scenarios have occurred or may occur in the future. We are looking primarily at two of the possible scenarios which seem to open up the most interesting legal questions: the use of tattoos by (famous) tattooed persons, and third party intellectual property (IP) reproduced as tattoos