The Graphic Artists Guild Applauds SCOTUS Opinion in Warhol v Goldsmith

The Graphic Artists Guild applauds the Supreme Court decision in The Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a case which had broad implications for graphic artists, and is recognized as a landmark copyright case regarding the interpretation of fair use. The SCOTUS opinion rejected 7-2 the Warhol Foundation’s argument that the artist’s use of photographer Lynn Goldsmith’s portrait of Prince was “transformative”, and therefor fell under fair use. In light of confusing and often contradictory analyses in lower court rulings, the SCOTUS opinion provides valuable guidance and  limits on the consideration of “tranformativeness.”.

The background of the case is that in 1984, Vanity Fair licensed Goldsmith’s portrait of Prince for a one-time use as source material for a silkscreen by Andy Warhol. The silkscreen, with a credit to Warhol and to Goldsmith for the “source photograph”, appeared in an article about the musician. Warhol proceeded to make 15 additional artworks from the photograph without Goldsmith’s knowledge, some of which he sold.

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