Randy Orton's Tattoo Artist Sues WWE, 2K Games

The tattoo artist responsible for professional wrestler Randy Orton's tattoos is allegedly suing both WWE and 2K Games for copyright infringement.

According to a report from TMZ Sports, an Illinois tattoo artist named Catherine Alexander is the artist who's filing the lawsuit against the two companies. TMZ Sports reports that Alexander has been tattooing Orton since 2003 and the artist says that she owns the copyright to the designs on Orton's body that are also featured in 2K's wrestling video games.

In the WWE games published by 2K Sports, a division of 2K Games, Orton's tattoos are faithfully represented and are drawn accurately to represent Orton's real tattoos. The accuracy of the tattoos is the basis for Alexander's lawsuit with the artist saying that the two organizations didn't have permissions to use her designs in the games.

Alexander also told TMZ Sports that this won't be the first that the WWE is hearing of her qualms with the in-game tattoos. The artist says that she brought up the issue with the wrestling organization back in 2009 while pointing out that the tattoos were being used in the games and said that she was offered $450 as compensation for the company to obtain rights to the designs. She declined the offer from WWE, but the TMZ Sports report doesn't indicate where the discussion be tween Alexander and WWE went from there.

Orton fans will recall that the wrestler has numerous tattoos, and Alexander says that she's responsible for the tribal tattoo on his upper back that's seen so often in his poses. She also said that she owns the right to Orton's "full sleeve with everything from a Bible verse to a dove, skulls and a rose" among other tattoos, according to TMZ Sports.

Additional details of the lawsuit have not been released, so it's unclear exactly how much Alexander is seeking in terms of compensation from the copyright infringement claims. 2K Games has faced a similar lawsuit in the past involving LeBron James and his tattoos. James' tattoo artist filed a suit against 2K for the use of the professional basketball player's tattoos in NBA 2k17.