Not Really Feline This Place

I am trying to come up with a design for a memorial tattoo for my black cat, who was named after a popular movie character. I booked a session with an artist who just branched off a local shop to open his own place. When he was at the shop, he had excellent reviews and a beautiful portfolio of his works.

Artist: “Okay, so what do you have? This is a memorial, right?”

Me: *Handing over several photos.* “Yeah, my cat.”

Artist: “Boy or girl? Oh, just so you know, the base price is $400.”

I did not know this, as it was not on the website or anywhere in the appointment request. It seems like a lot of money, but this is also my first tattoo, so maybe I’m just unprepared?

Me: “Um… Boy.”

Artist: “What was he like?”

Me: “He loved laser pointers and never missed a meal. He always greeted me when I got home and just talked and talked until I sat down, and he would lie in my lap and purr. He was my little spoon when I watched TV. He—”

Artist: *Not paying attention.* “Uh-huh, he sounds like a great cat. What was his name?”

Me: “[Character’s Name], like—”

Artist: “—Nope.”

Me: “What?”

Artist: “Copyright laws. I can’t do a [Character] tattoo.”

Me: “I’m not asking you to do a tattoo about the character. I’m asking for a tattoo to memorialize my cat named [Character].”

Artist: “Sorry, can’t risk it. I won’t charge you for today, though.”

Me: “I don’t understand. People have Betty Boop tattoos and Mickey Mouse and—”

Artist: “I’m not doing it. You want to risk someone else going to jail, go for it. Get out.”

I gathered my pictures and left. I did some research and found that there is a fine line between copyright infringement and a tattoo that looks very, very, VERY similar to the character but has one small change that makes it a completely different design and thus not illegal.

I went to another artist a few weeks later who sat with me and designed a perfect, realistic-looking memorial for my cat. It only hurt a little bit – more like a relentless swarm of bees in one spot – and it turned out great. 

My total was about $250 for three hours. [Artist] is still in business, but a lot of his reviews have been about how he refuses to do common tattoos or charges insane amounts for very basic designs.