Roger Ladouceur, a tattoo artist based out of Roanoke, has filed a federal lawsuit against Macado’s Inc. for copyright infringement.
The artist claims in 2013, he created and copyrighted the image of the Frankenstein monster wearing a monocle, which Macado’s has applied in recent promotional material according to “The Roanoke Times.”
The copyright infringement suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke by Ladouceur against Macado’s Inc.
According to a status Ladouceur posted on Facebook, when Macado’s took his artwork, he told them to “either give credit where credit was due or remove my artwork from their merchandise.” He stated that they had done neither at that point and was considering obtaining counsel on this issue.
It was originally created for a client on whose leg Ladouceur placed the tattoo in October 2013. According to “The Roanoke Times,” Ladouceur has utilized the tattoo as a marketing device for his profession.
“In 2014, without license, permission or other authority from Plaintiff, Defendants knowingly, willfully and intentionally usurped the Tattoo for their own commercial purposes, making an exact or substantially similar copy,” the complaint stated.
As of now, the Macado’s manager in Farmville is not able to comment on the matter, so at this time, it is uncertain if this will affect the local restaurant.
According to “The Roanoke Times,” the lawsuit seeks “an award of all those profits of Defendants attributable to their use of the Tattoo, which shall include but not be limited to all profits across all of their restaurant businesses from the sale of food, drink and merchandise during and through the entire Halloween 2014 season ... into 2015 to present.”
With 19 restaurants in Virginia, this would be a substantial loss of funds for the company.
Copyright infringement is not taken lightly, with it being a legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work the sole right to publish and sell that work. Copyright owners have the right to control the reproduction of their work, including the right to receive payment for that reproduction according to legal-dictionary.
If Ladouceur’s work is found to be under copyright protection and Macado’s is found to be in violation of that copyright, Ladouceur could receive a significant monetary gain.
According to “The Roanoke Times,” the registered agent for Macado’s, Dean Nichols, has not yet commented on the case.
