Supreme Court Rules Against Andy Warhol in Copyright Case

The Supreme Court says that Andy Warhol broke a photographer's copyright by using a picture of Prince.

Image Source: Wikipedia

On May 18, the Supreme Court sided with a photographer who alleged Andy Warhol breached her copyright on a Prince portrait.

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The unique works of photographers like Lynn Goldsmith deserve copyright protection even when used by well-known artists, Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated.

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The case was about some pictures that Warhol made of Prince in 1984 for Vanity Fair.

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Warhol used a so-called "artist reference," which was a picture of Ms. Goldsmith, as a place to start.

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The shot was licensed to Vanity Fair by paying Ms. Goldsmith. Then, Warhol made a series of pictures in his way.

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One of the pictures, of Prince with a purple face, was chosen by Vanity Fair to be in the magazine.

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After Prince's passing in 2016, the magazine featured a 2nd image from the series on its cover. In this case, the justices dealt with this second usage.

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Attorneys for Warhol's foundation argued that the artist's alteration of the photograph did not violate copyright law.

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But most of the judges agreed that a lower court had done the right thing by siding with Ms. Goldsmith.

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