Who owns the copyright?

Who else owns Demi Lavato's arm?
http://www.eonline.com/photos/6990/top-10-celebrity-tattoos-of-2012/238578

We've been studying copyright laws in my digital writing class, so when I saw this headline 

Whose Tattoo is it Anyway?

in the Maine Sunday Telegram on October 13, 2013, my interest peaked. Can artists own a body part of another person? Last year, tattoo artist, Stephen Allen sued Electronic Arts for using one of his designs on the cover of the video game, "NFL Street." Ok, it was more complicated than that. Allen's original design was tattooed onto the arm of running back Ricky Williams. That case was settled out of court, but copyright laws are getting more and more complex and the courts will sort it out. 

       I'd always thought copyright laws were to protect the financial interests of the producers, but I learned in Ken's quicktime movie that "In a democratic society, copyright is about protecting creativity and progress". I love this!

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said it best:

"The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors...but encourage others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work."


Wow! this is new thinking for me. And  I found a wonderful 
TED talk that broke open the idea of protecting creativity and progress. Click the link below to hear Lawrence Lessig - my new hero: