WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed a major copyright clash over Andy Warhol’s use of a photo of the singer Prince, and appears divided on how far artists may go in freely using the work of others.
The case is being closely watched in the art and entertainment industries, which both rely on copyrights and also license copyrighted material for new works, such as films that are based on and adapted from novels.
During a lively back-and-forth argument, the justices sounded interested and engaged but divided on how to rule. At issue is whether and when an artist may use copyrighted material without paying a fee if his new work is “transformative” in its meaning and message.
