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Professional wrestler photographer Basil Mahmud has called out WWE Games for using photograph he took of Tessa Blanchard which appears during a loading screen on WWE 2K Battlegrounds.
Hey @WWEgames you wanna tell me why you took my photo without my permission to use it in your game?
https://twitter.com/Beezzzzy/status/1306763424400113665?s=20
Trademark attorney Michael E. Dockins responded to the tweet – “Sure seems like a derivative work and copyright infringement to me… not that I giving legal advice… yet”
Mahmud captured the photo of Blanchard during IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view earlier this year. It’s unknown why 2K games used the photo of Blanchard considering she is not part of the WWE roster.
If you search “women wrestler winning” on Google, the photo is the first result. It’s unknown if this is how 2K Games found the photo.
Is this how 2K found the photo of Tessa for 2K Battlegrounds? pic.twitter.com/8x2Opa2V5d
— HeelByNature.com (@HeelByNatureYT) September 18, 2020