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ARTICLE · 15 MAY 2017

Third Verse Same As The First - Will Richard Prince's Transformation Defense Work Yet Again?

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Take a copyrighted photograph of Sonic Youth bass player Kim Gordon, crop it, and add an Instagram border and a few words of text and emojis.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Michael Nepple
Michael Nepple
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Take a copyrighted photograph of Sonic Youth bass player Kim Gordon, crop it, and add an Instagram border and a few words of text and emojis. Have you "transformed" it sufficiently to avoid copyright infringement? And is it so clear that it can be decided at the early pleading stage of a lawsuit? Richard Prince thinks so.

Stop me if you've heard this story before: Richard Prince, the "appropriation artist," has been sued by photographer Eric McNatt for copyright infringement in federal court in New York. McNatt's photography has appeared in hundreds of magazines and advertising campaigns.

Prince used McNatt's 2014 photograph of Gordon by cropping McNatt's photograph, surrounding it with his Instagram frame, and adding three lines of text and emojis. According to the complaint, the resulting work was displayed on Prince's website, Instagram feed, a book, and an exhibition.

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