Continuing to lead the world in moronic IP law suits, it’s little wonder that in-theaters The Hangover 2 was nearly stalled because of a copyright claim. Did someone already make a sequel? Was the film based on a script lifted from an online forum for starving writers? No, this multi-million dollar project almost didn’t hit theaters because of tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill, who claimed copyright on the infamous face tattoo gracing the beaten mug of former boxing champ Mike Tyson.

Let’s forget for a moment that Whitmill was paid for his work. That Tyson didn’t demand the tat and say: “As payment, you’ll just own the copyright, and maybe you can sue someone eventually,” knowing he’d make the tribal face ink a household image.

The beautiful irony is that Warner Bros is behind The Hangover franchise. So here’s a company known for heavy-handed interpretation and enforcement of copyright law now being stalled by someone making similar claims. That door apparently swings both ways. It seems that even though Whitmill and his lawyers weren’t able to get an injunction against The Hangover‘s theatrical release, they may well be able to stall the DVD release or any subsequent release of the film until the “proper” settlements change hands.

Sure, Warner Bros is large enough to dominate in court, but then they have an image to worry about: one that lauds the strict and draconian enforcement of copyright law. Indeed, this hasn’t stopped companies such as Disney from acting pirate while claiming priest.

The only saving grace with such a joke of a case is that it’s likely to be settled out of court for some ridiculous sum and won’t lay down any legal precedent. The die has still been cast, to some degree, however, if any dollars change hands. We can count on more frivolous suits in likewise ludicrous claims of infringement. After all, the tattoo is really no more original than any of a million other tribals. Taken out of context (that is, not on a famously furious boxer’s mug) it’s unlikely anyone would be able to identify the design amid other tribals. It’s not exactly like wrestler Sting’s obvious hack job of The Crow make-up.

Of course, this will not represent some watershed case either way, as our courts are full of likened IP cases of similar silliness, of which we can only expect more and more.