Use Of Third-Party Artwork In Video Backdrop Is Fair Use

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that the unauthorized use of an artist's illustration in a video backdrop featured in rock band Green Day's stage show did not violate the Copyright Act, finding, in part, that the use was sufficiently transformative and did not affect the market value of the work. Seltzer v. Green Day, Inc., et al, Case Nos. 11-56573, -57160 (9th Cir. Aug. 7, 2013) (O'Scannlain, J.)

Artist Derek Seltzer created Scream Icon, an illustration of a screaming, distorted human face, and sold posters and prints of the image, many of which were affixed to public walls and used as street art. Defendant Green Day, a multi-platinum Grammy-Award-winning rock band, used various video backdrops during its live stage show tour in promotion of the band's album 21^st Century Breakdown. The backdrop displayed during the song "East Jesus Nowhere" constituted a four-minute video featuring various graffiti