The US Supreme Court has issued the ruling in the copyright dispute between the Andy Warhol Foundation and photographer Lynn Goldsmith.
A long legal dispute over the “Orange Prince” artwork, published in 2016, has resulted in what Goldsmith has described as a “great day for photographers and other artists who make a living by licensing their art” as the court ruled Goldsmith the winner by 7-2 votes. This article will discuss the events that have led to this result.
Context Andy Warhol Images Violate Copyright – US Supreme Court
Andy Warhol is an artist who passed away in 1987, leaving his work in control of the Andy Warhol Foundation.
The artwork in question is a painting of the singer Prince who passed away in 2016 that was published by Vanity Fair. Lynn Goldsmith is a photographer who has worked with several popular musicians, such as Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.
Timeline of events – Andy Warhol Images Violate Copyright
1981- Lynn Goldsmith takes her photograph of Prince.
1984- The photograph is licensed by Vanity Fair for artistic licence for $400 and Andy Warhol creates an image, based on the photograph, to be published called “Purple Fame”.
1984-1987- Warhol creates 15 more images in the “Prince series”, all based on Goldsmith’s photo.
1993-2004- Now under control of the Warhol Foundation, 12 of the Prince Series images are sold while also using the images for merchandise.
2016- Following the death of Prince, Vanity Fair publishes a special commemorative edition using a new Warhol image- “Orange Prince”. The Warhol Foundation is paid $10,250 for the image despite Goldsmith not being paid or credited. Goldsmith contacts the Warhol Foundation after discovering the Prince series but is preemptively sued for fair use, with Goldsmith counter suing for infringement.
2019- The court decides in the foundation’s favour, saying the images are transformative enough to be used under fair use laws.
2021- The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favour of Goldsmith, faulting the district judge for focusing on the artist’s intent and assuming the role of an art critic.
2023- The US Supreme Court has ruled that the images have violated copyright laws with a 7-2 vote.
Issue
The biggest question the court had to decide was whether the artwork was transformative. In the 2019 case, the judge had said that Warhol’s work displayed a “larger than life character” while Goldsmith’s photo displayed a “vulnerable human being”.
The second supreme court dismissed this ruling, saying that the judge should not look at the underlying message of the artwork to come to a conclusion.
The Warhol Foundation’s defence being that if the work was not transformative, Vanity Fair would have used the original photograph.
A case cited in supreme court is the 1994 ruling that the supreme court held it was fair use when 2 Live Crew created a song called “Pretty Woman” that was a parody of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
To be transformative, Warhol’s work needed to be significantly different from the original photograph, giving it a different purpose.
If the supreme court found the work to be transformative then the work would have been used fairly with no copyright infringement.
The court did not rule that the Prince Series infringed Goldsmiths copyright or did not fall under fair use, but ruled that the Warhol Foundation had exceeded their rights of using Goldsmith’s work.
Conclusion
The ruling of this case was seven votes to two in Goldsmiths favour.
However, this does not answer the question of how transformative artwork needs to be to be used under fair use.
We are yet to know whether this will be the end of the legal battles for the Warhol Foundation or Goldsmith.
By Jim Mann, a student at Open University
References for Andy Warhol article
Here are some refences for the article involving Andy Warhol and the issue over copyright with the Supreme Court.
- US Supreme Court (SupremeCourt.GOV)
- Andy Warhol (Wikipedia.ORG)
- Prince (Wikipedia.ORG)
- Passed away in 2016 (History.COM)
- Vanity Fair (VanityFair.COM)
- Lynn Goldsmith (Wikipedia.ORG)
- Death of Prince (DailyMail.COM)
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