Tat Jacking is a phenomenon that is taking over social media as of late. With the ever-increasing popularity and acceptance of tattoos, originality is the most important thing that clients are looking for when they buy a new piece of art for their body. But because social media is an intrinsic part of today’s culture, and everyone wants to share their new tattoos on the web, there are always those who will take someone else’s tattoo idea for themselves-thus, Tat Jacking was born.
It comes down to originality. The reason people get so upset about others copying their tattoos is because they feel that their tattoos are original, the first of their kind. As soon as someone else gets it, it is no longer so, thus ruining the integrity of their tattoo.
But is anything original anymore? Or has it all been done before? Wayne Conroy, owner of Screaming Needles in downtown Plymouth, has been tattooing for thirty years. From his experience, originality can still exist, it just lies within the execution of the tattoo and not the subject matter.
“People have been tattooing skulls for years, but they can still be original, you can tattoo a skull in a new way with a new design,” said Conroy.
Tat Jacking has even been attempted here in the little town of Plymouth, NH. “People always come in and are like ‘I want this,’ and they have something they found on the internet… you have to [alter it though] that’s someone else’s work,” said Conroy. If the client doesn’t want to alter it, he said, “I won’t do it, but they’ll probably just go somewhere else and have it done by someone else.”
People have even attempted to “jack” Wayne’s own personal tattoos, “A bunch of people have asked for this tattoo here (showed his arm), it’s the one on my business card so people come in asking for it and I’m like no, it’s mine, so I won’t do it, but they probably just go somewhere else and have another artist do it,” explained Conroy.,
The biggest problem with attempting to “own” a tattoo: there is no way to police it. Any client can just go to another tattoo shop and get what they want done there.
Leah Loraditch, a PSU student who has four tattoos, said that she would be upset if she was tat jacked because, “tattoos are often a work of art that you have worked with an artist to create and indelibly insert under your skin,” but added,”nothing is truly original.”
So is the internet to blame? Tattoos can’t be copied if others don’t see them, right? Nic Harbour, a PSU student who has four tattoos, said that posting your tattoos on the internet, “gives people free range to do what they want…copyrighting only works so far, unfortunately once it’s on the internet it seems to be fair game.”
And Conroy agrees, “I think about 85% of stolen ideas happen because people post things online, because once they do that they’re making it public, so they really can’t complain.” He advises his clients against it, saying, “When people post things to my Facebook page I always tell them to take it down for that reason.”
Some people feel differently, and think that they should be able to share their tattoos on the web without the worry of being tat jacked. Megan, who has five tattoos agreed, “I think that people should be able to use what they see [online] as inspiration, but an exact copy would be annoying and frankly, a little sad. If these people don’t have the imagination to come up with their own unique ideas then I wouldn’t see them as a unique individual.”
Megan also addresses the attempts people make to stop tat jacking: “Bottom line [is], people will copy if they don’t have respect for the tattooer or the tattooee and there’s nothing you can do about it except try to make them feel like shit for doing it.”
Tat jacking is something that people are getting very passionate about in discussion boards online. The arguments ultimately come down to whether or not you can claim ownership of art. John, a tattoo virgin says, “in theory you can attain a copyright, but you can never truly own anything that leaves your mind and is made for others to see.” Meaning once you even put your tattoo on your body, there’s no real way to stop someone from jacking your tattoo.