“US Supreme Court Rules Andy Warhol Did Not Create New Artwork from Lynn Goldsmith’s Prince Photo, Questioning Centuries of Western Art”

Andy Warhol had no right to draw on a portrait of Prince made by renowned photographer Lynn Goldsmith. The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The decision was not unanimous: seven judges voted in favour, two against. The ruling will therefore have far-reaching consequences for samples, references, homages or parodies in art.

In 1984 early Vanity Fair to Andy Warhol an illustration for an article about Prince. Warhol started from a well-known photo by Lynn Goldsmith. The magazine paid her $400 to use that photo once, and credited her as the author of the portrait. Warhol made sixteen proposals by cutting and coloring the photo, one of which was placed with the piece.

When Prince passed away in 2016, Vanity Fair a commemorative number. Warhol had already died in 1987, but publisher Condé Nast paid the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts $10,250 for one of the 1984 adaptations. Goldsmith was not consulted or paid, and her name was not mentioned.

The ensuing lawsuit mainly revolved around the question of whether the processing can be regarded as ‘fair use’. An author’s work cannot simply be used without their permission, but there are exceptions. An edit can be done in the context of ‘criticism, commentary or news coverage’. Copying is allowed for use in education, scientific purposes or research. The nature of the copied work also plays a role, as well as whether the adaptation is being made for commercial purposes.

Lower courts differed widely on whether Warhol had added a new layer of meaning to Goldsmith’s photo. The case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court. He ruled that Goldsmith’s photo has not been sufficiently ‘transformed’.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor writes: ‘Original works by photographers should enjoy copyright protection, even against famous artists.’ Her colleagues Elena Kagan and John G. Roberts Jr. say the decision will nip “any kind of creativity” in the bud. It will hold back new art, music and literature, prevent the expression of new ideas and the realization of new knowledge. She will make our world poorer.’