Jeff Sedlick appears to have created a photograph that is iconic over 30 years later, while the tattoo artist is just copying it. If the point of copyright law is to encourage creativity then don't we want Sedlick to win?
The compromise has diminishing returns for providing protections and affordances on longer time scales, and 30 years is really pushing it.
Also I hope he's doing fine with his client list https://sedlik.com/getinfo.htm