PUBLISHED:October 10, 2022

Duke Law Podcast | Supreme Court as art critic hearing 'Warhol v. Goldsmith'?

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The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear Warhol v. Goldsmith, with potentially far-reaching implications for America's copyright law and fair-use doctrine.

 

While the artist Prince rocked fans for decades, an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case concerning a 1981 portrait of him could potentially rock America's copyright law and fair use doctrine. 

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Lynn Goldsmith and Lynn Goldsmith, Ltd. is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 12, 2022, and has seemingly positioned the justices as art critics tasked with determining if famed pop artist Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright of the photo. Or, is the silk-screen series that Warhol created based on Goldsmith's photo legal under copyright's fair use doctrine? The case pits one artist's copyright against another artist's ability to build upon prior works. Who should win? 

In this episode, the Duke Law Podcast turns to Jennifer Jenkins, clinical professor of law and director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke, and Christopher Buccafusco, the Edward & Ellen Schwarzman Professor of Law at Duke Law, for answers.

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Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States print warhol prints goldsmith photo
The 1981 photo taken by Goldsmith on the left and the silk-screen series created by Warhol, using Goldsmith's photo as a reference, on the right. (Credit: Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)