Artist Transforms Copyright Tribulation
Once again, copyright is in the news.
David Klein
This time, an artist, Richard Prince has been sued for copyright infringement. The case was filed in New York District Court, alleges that Prince violated copyright when he scanned photographs from a book, printed them onto canvas, and then painted on top of them, adding evocative elements like face paint and electric guitars.
His defense is that he “transformed” the original image and so is free of the tethers of copyright. (Yeah. right.)
Don’t do this at your firm. Like running with scissors, letting your scanner substitute for legitimate licensed images is dangerous.
There’s a great article in the Wall Street Journal about this case. Click here for the link free for the next week. (After that you’ll need a subscription to get this article on-line: Color This Area of the Law Gray)
There are some instances in which “transformation” will pass muster. Like the time that Jeff Koons was inspired by a fashion photo of a woman’s legs with dangling sandal. He’d massaged the image so much that only the photographer could see the resemblance.
Even so, if he’d been a businessperson instead of an artist with renown legal representation, I suspect he would not have prevailed.
Satire is another shield for artists, but in business, it makes you look petty to satirize a competitor.
Don’t think that you can “transform” the logo of your competitor and come off looking good nor staying outside the legal protection afforded trademarks and copyrighted images.
Keep it clean out there, and don’t run with scissors scanned images!
Reader (RSS)
Email