US High Court to Decide How Artists Can Use Others’ Works

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US High Court to Decide How Artists Can Use Others’ Works

The U.S. Supreme¹ Court agreed on Monday to hear a case that could help decide how artists can use the works of others.

The court agreed to decide a copyright dispute between the photographer Lynn Goldsmith and the estate of modern artist Andy Warhol. The dispute is over Warhol's 1984 paintings of music star Prince.

The justices agreed to hear the Andy Warhol Foundation's appeal of a lower court ruling. That ruling held that Warhol's paintings based on a picture of Prince by Goldsmith were not protected by the fair use idea of U.S. copyright law. The photos were taken for Newsweek magazine in 1981.

Goldsmith, who is now 74 years old, countersued Warhol's estate in 2017 over Warhol's unlicensed paintings of Prince. Warhol's estate had asked a federal court in New York City to find that his works did not violate her copyright. Warhol was famous for basing some of his art on photographs and available images. He died in 1987.

Goldsmith has said she did not learn about the unlicensed works until after Prince died in 2016. She asked the court to block Warhol's estate from making more use of her work. She also wants to be paid what are called damages for use of her work.

A judge had earlier ruled that Warhol's works were protected against Goldsmith's claims by the idea of fair use. Under fair use, copyrighted work may be used without the owner's permission if several ideas of fairness are observed. For example, fair use is permitted if the artist changes, or transforms, the work into something new. Fair use is also permitted if the new work is a parody³.

The judge found Warhol's paintings transformed Goldsmith's picture of Prince as a "vulnerable human being" by showing him as an "iconic, larger-than-life figure."

Goldsmith disputed that earlier decision. The case then came before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Last year, the court decided⁴ that Warhol's paintings had not made fair use of Goldsmith's photo. That made it possible for Goldsmith's case to continue.

The 2nd Circuit decided that a transformative work must have a "fundamentally different and new artistic⁵ purpose and character." The court said that Warhol's paintings were "much closer to presenting the same work in a different form."

The Andy Warhol Foundation then asked the U.S. Supreme Court in December to overturn the 2nd Circuit decision. The foundation argued that the decision created legal uncertainty⁶ for all art like Warhol's.

Warhol Foundation lawyer Roman Martinez said he welcomed the high court's decision to hear the case. He hopes it will "recognize that Andy Warhol's transformative works of art are fully⁷ protected by law."

Goldsmith said in a statement provided by one of her lawyers that she looks forward to continuing her legal fight at the Supreme Court.

"I fought this suit to protect not only my own rights, but the rights of all photographers and visual artists to make a living by licensing⁸ their creative work - and also to decide when, how and even whether to exploit their creative works or license² others to do so," Goldsmith said.

The Supreme Court dealt with the issue of copyright fair use last year. One of its rulings found that the use of Oracle⁹ Corporation's software code by Google in its Android operating system was protected.

In a 1994 Supreme Court ruling on fair use involving artistic creation, the justices found that rap music group 2 Live Crew's parody of a song by performer Roy Orbison was fair use.

Words in This Story

copyright — n. the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, and sell a book, musical recording¹⁰ or other work for a certain period of time

estate — n. an organization that looks after things left by a person after they die

countersue — v. to use a legal process to get a court of law to change an earlier decision or to bring a legal case in reaction to legal actions taken by someone else

unlicensed — adj. not having an official document giving you permission to do, own, or make something

transform — v. to change something completely (usually in a good way)

parody — n. a piece of writing, music, or other work that imitates the style of someone or something else in a humorous way

vulnerable — adj. able to be hurt; at risk of being harmed

iconic — adj. describing a widely known image, object or person that represents something; a person who is very successful and famous

exploit — v. to use (someone or something) in a way that helps you unfairly

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

3 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

9 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。