In a 7-2 vote on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981.
The high-profile case, which pits an artist's freedom to riff on existing works of art against the protection of an artist from copyright infringement, hinges on whether Warhol's images of Prince transform Goldsmith's photograph to a great enough degree to stave off claims of copyright infringement and therefore be considered as "fair use." Under copyright law, fair use permits the unlicensed appropriation of copyright-protected works in specific circumstances, for example, in some non-commercial or educational cases.
