In law, it’s called “fair use.” In art, “appropriation.” With either appellation, the issue is the same – is it acceptable to copy someone else’s original image and make it your own? My position is that blatant copying without regard for the rights of the original artist should be prohibited. As a photographer, I shudder to think of another artist taking my image and re-photographing it to create a new work of art.
Some famous contemporary artists are well-known for copying the works of others and calling it “appropriation art.” Sherrie Levine and Richard Prince have made a living by either photographing other artists’ photographs and using them as their own (Levine), and/or enlarging the image and claiming it as an original (Prince). Richard Prince is perhaps more visible to the general public. Most recently a French photographer, Patrick Cariou, filed a copyright infringement suit against Richard Prince, accusing him of “borrowing” at least twenty photographs for use in a series of collage/paintings. Mr. Prince also made the news last year when it was revealed that his cowboy images were re-photographed from “Marlboro Man” cigarette ads. In a 2005 interview in “New York Magazine,” Prince claimed that using other people’s images was, “sort of like beachcombing.”
The issue of “fair use” and image appropriation is once again in the news. The Associated Press has raised objections to the re-use of its now famous photo of President Obama which has been distributed everywhere by street artist Shepard Fairey. Fairey has "turned the tables," and is suing the AP, asking for a declaration that he used the photo only as a reference, and that he is protected under the fair-use exception to copyright law. This exception, according to Section 107 of the United States Copyright Law, protects the limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes including criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. It seems to me that this overly-broad exception to the law is sometimes interpreted to mean that, with the right legal representation, it becomes permissible to copy and re-use someone else’s work.
