Is it illegal to remove watermark from an image of a tattoo design and then get that tattoo?

You cannot use someone else's creative work without their permission, so downloading a tattoo which was commissioned for someone else would violate copyright law if you do not have permission. Copyright law protects creative works that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Under the copyright law the author has the right to stop others from copying and publicly displaying his or her creative work without permission. In a recent case S. Victor Whitmill, Mike Tyson's tattoo artist, sued Warner Bros. to stop the release of the movie Hangover II because the character played by Ed Helms had a tattoo he created on his face. Warner Bros. had not asked for permission. The parties settled and the movie was released.