Copying Just Isn't Cool
While we’re on the subject of being creative and having a unique tattoo, I want to also address another important issue that is much more serious. I am talking about copying – copying someone else’s tattoo. I want you to imagine that you have followed all of my advice on the previous page and have spent weeks working on the perfect tattoo. You spent days perusing pictures and designs in books and online to find something that was uniquely “you”. You spent hours consulting with your artist, drawing and re-drawing to make sure it was just right. You endured the pain and walked out of the studio with a perfectly 100% custom tattoo that was made for no one else on this earth but you, and you alone.
Now imagine that you love your tattoo so much that you want to show people and you post your picture on a site like this one, or your own site, or a message board. Everyone tells you how beautiful it is and you feel happy, and you love your tattoo because it’s so special since you put so much of yourself into it.
And now imagine that a few weeks later, you find out that someone took the picture of your tattoo that you posted and had a copy of it made on their own skin. They didn’t ask for permission and they didn’t take your feelings into consideration at all. They don’t care how much time you spent working on the perfect design. They just ripped it off and copied it, and now your tattoo is no longer an original. How do you think you would feel if this happened to you? Well, unfortunately, it does happen. It recently happened to one of my forum members. Want to know how it made her feel?
“I guess it's flattering that she liked my tattoo that much, but it pissed me the hell off at the time…how do I NOT have my own tattoo (which happens to be my favorite one) on my own website??? I hate the thought of someone taking my picture to a tattoo artist who DOESN'T have the morals mine does & who WOULD blatantly copy someone else's tattoo…Obviously the person knows very little about tattoos & tattoo etiquette ~ that's the only explanation I can come-up with. But God, even back when I knew NOTHING about tattoos, I still wouldn't have tried to copy somebody's EXACT tattoo.”
Doesn’t sound too happy, does she? Well, she has every right to be upset about it and you would be, too. So before you think about copying someone else’s tattoo, think about the feelings of the person that’s wearing it. And no, asking for permission to copy does not make it OK. It’s just not cool to duplicate someone else’s art – in fact it’s disgraceful. Don’t be lazy! The tattoo galleries on this and other sites are meant to provide you with inspiration and ideas, not templates to be reproduced.
