Supreme Court Rules Against Andy Warhol Estate in Prince Photo Copyright Case - Bloomberg
Culture

Supreme Court Backs Photographer in Warhol Copyright Case Over Prince Portrait

  • High court curbs ‘fair use’ defense to copyright infringement
  • Photographer who took original image sued over art based on it
“Prince” by Lynn Goldsmith (1981) and “Prince Series” by Andy Warhol (1984)Source: United States Supreme Court Documents

The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of a photographer who says Andy Warhol violated her copyright by using her work to create 16 images of the musician Prince.

Voting 7-2, the justices rejected arguments from the foundation that holds Warhol’s rights in a clash centering on the use of one of the images on a Conde Nast magazine cover. The foundation argued that the images transformed rock-and-roll photographer Lynn Goldsmith’s 1981 portrait of Prince, making them “fair use” under federal copyright law.