Thou Shalt Not Make Unto Thee a Graven Image, Unless It’s Art?

In New York, thou shalt not use another’s likeness without consent for advertising purposes or for purposes of trade.¹ However, oftentimes the line between what constitutes trade and what constitutes art can be as fuzzy as political math. Add to this equation the fact that one person’s art may be another person’s blasphemy and what is left is the difficult picture presented to the New York Supreme Court (New York County) in the case of Nussenzweig v. DiCorcia.²

Erno Nussenzweig is an Orthodox Hasidic Jew and believes that any use of his image for commercial and public purposes violates the Second Commandment’s prohibition against the use of graven images.³