10 Movie Scenes That Led To Massive Lawsuits

2. Stu's Tattoo - The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II received several lawsuits, including an injured stuntman settling out-of-court and Louis Vuitton unsuccessfully suing for the inclusion of a fake handbag in one scene, but none proved more bizarre than the legal kerfuffle over a tattoo.

There's an hilarious scene in the film where Stu (Ed Helms) wakes up with Mike Tyson's distinctive tattoo plastered across the side of his face, prompting the tattoo artist who originally created the ink for Tyson, S. Victor Whitmill, to sue the production.

Whitmill claimed that the design was copyrighted, and that Warner Bros. never sought permission to use it, while the studio fired back that a tattoo, as residing permanently on a human's face, could not be subject to conventional copyright law.

Whitmill's outlandish request to prevent the film's release was rejected, while Warner Bros. made provisions to digitally alter Stu's tattoo if the lawsuit ended unfavourably for them.

In the end, Warner Bros. settled with Whitmill for an undisclosed sum, and as silly as the suit might sound on paper, Whitmill had a point considering how extensively Stu's inked-up face was featured in the movie's trailers and posters, and that the comedic context was in large part authored by Whitmill's design.