The real reason Ruru covers her tattoos up on Badly in Love, as real photos of her ink emerge
She has a tattoo of an iconic cartoon
Ruru has been covering her tattoos on Badly in Love, and everyone’s wondering why. Real photos of ink on her right arm have now emerged, but weirdly, we don’t get to see one of those tattoos on the show, where she’s having to live with other strangers for 14 days.
Essentially, all of her tattoos except a specific one of Betty Boop are covered up on Netflix. And Ruru’s tattoos aren’t the only piece of ink being covered, as one of her co-star male contestants’ leg tattoos has also been hidden, but it all comes down to copyright issues.
View this post on Instagram
Streaming teams often hide or avoid showing tattoos due to copyright law and trademark infringement claims. Tokyo production company Staff Labbi are the company behind the show, and won’t need to pay licensing fees to the firm who own Betty Boop as a brand.
Betty Boop is a heavily-protected corporate asset. While her earliest 1930s cartoon appearance entered the public domain, modern renderings, specific branding, and commercial merchandising rights remain strictly guarded by entities like Fleischer Studios.
View this post on Instagram
In some cases, the specific tattoo design is considered original copyrighted artwork belonging to the tattoo artist who inked it, meaning the production would need the artist’s explicit broadcast consent. But mostly, it’s just not worth it to risk showing the ink on the show.
Some reality shows also blur wall art, which again comes down to copyright law and the artist who done the work. In Ruru’s case, it doesn’t look like they’ve edited out her Betty Boop tattoo, but rather asked her to copy it using a tattoo cover sticker.
For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates – like Reality Shrine on Facebook.