Artist: Sneaky shoe company stole tattoo

NEW YORK, July 22 (UPI) -- A Long Island, N.Y., tattoo artist is suing U.S. shoe company Converse in federal court, claiming the company stole his design.

Anthony Zambito says he saw an image he designed -- and tattooed on a customer more than four months earlier -- on Converse sneakers that sell for $60, The New York Post reported Sunday.

Zambito is suing the company and the New York shoe store Kinway Industries for copyright infringement and misappropriating his work. If the suit is successful, it will force the companies to reveal the number of shoes sold, the newspaper said.

The depiction of the Japanese war god Bishamonten was available on Zambito's Web site, zamtattoo.com, his attorney, Jeremy Richardson, told the Post. And that is where Converse said an intern found the image.

Once an artwork exists in a "tangible medium," in this case the back of customer Carlos Flynn, it is considered copyrighted, Richardson said.

The shoe company said it is reviewing the lawsuit.