Copyright Disputes Facing Instagram Re-Posting Photographer
In the ever-evolving digital age, copyright law has become a complex issue, with platforms like Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Email playing significant roles. A recent case involving renowned artist Richard Prince is testing the boundary of how much transformation is required under U.S. copyright law when incorporating other people's work into your own art.
Prince, a photographer, lost his bid in federal court in New York on Tuesday to have a copyright lawsuit against him dismissed. The artist is accused of taking photos from his Instagram feed, increasing them in size, and making an exhibit without asking the owners' permission.
This case follows a previous court case where Prince won because he crudely drew over 25 of the original photos he copied. However, the current case does not involve such transformations. Instead, the question is whether Prince's work, without significant alterations, can be considered transformative enough to qualify for a fair use defense.
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that a transformative work must have a fundamentally different and new artistic purpose or character, rather than merely a different purpose or conveying a new meaning. This is a narrower interpretation than previously used, as seen in the Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. case.
The focus in cases of appropriation art, such as Richard Prince's case and the Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith decision, is whether the new work adds something new or fundamentally changes the original's purpose or character to qualify as a fair use defense. The Warhol case underlines that simply reusing a photograph without significant transformation or new artistic character does not meet this threshold and fails fair use protection.
The four-factor fair use test—transformativeness, nature of the original work, amount and substantiality of the portion used, and market effect—still applies, with a heavy emphasis on the transformative nature and market harm factors. The test remains flexible and case-specific, and judges weigh these factors without a fixed quantitative limit on how much original material can be transformed.
This means appropriation artists like Richard Prince must create works that fundamentally change or add new artistic expression or message to the original photos for a fair use defense to stand in U.S. courts. The outcome of this case will be influential regardless of its decision, as it will help set the level of audacity one can legally use to when appropriating other people's photos.
Meanwhile, another intriguing case is making waves in the copyright world: a monkey who took a selfie and the ownership of the copyright. PETA brought a lawsuit claiming that the monkey owns the copyright to the selfie. The case, if successful, could potentially establish whether animals can own copyrights. However, the outcome of this case is yet to be determined.
As these cases highlight, a discussion on copyright law, derivative works, transformative works, and AI-generated content is essential in understanding this complex issue. It is crucial for artists and creators to be aware of these laws and to draft their contracts carefully to protect their work.
- Technology, such as social media platforms, plays a significant role in contemporary copyright disputes, as seen in the case of Richard Prince where his use of Instagram photos without permission sparked a legal debate.
- In the evolving landscape of copyright law, understanding the intricacies of derivative works, transformative works, and AI-generated content is increasingly important for artists and creators, as technology continues to shape and challenge traditional notions of ownership and creativity.
