The artist Richard Prince, who is sometimes known as the
#PrinceofAppropriation, claims that copyright law protects the
artistic style he calls "appropriation art." Photographer
Donald Graham filed suit against Prince, alleging Prince infringed
the copyright in Graham's photograph, "Rastafarian Smoking
a Joint," when Price used it for his own work. In his initial
defense, Prince has embraced, rather than shunned, the
"appropriation" label.
Prince is a one of the leading names in art. Several of his
works have sold for amounts in excess of $2 million. The
"wealthy and the famous," including Jay-Z, Robert DeNiro,
and Brad Pitt attend his exhibitions and collect his works.
A prior case, Cariou v. Prince, led to a new fair use
precedent. In that case several of Prince's works based
on Cariou's original photos were found to qualify as fair use,
including Prince's work, "Graduation," based on the
Cariou photograph "Yes Rasta." Prince is now trying to
move that
