Mr Warhol Case

Warhol wanted to capture the moments of protesters being attacked by police force to draw the issue to the public’s attention. He wanted his art piece to preserve a portion of these black protesters lives; what exactly they went through to receive the equality they now have today.

Attention Getter: The American culture is so engulfed into consumerism that we take every day items and objects for granted we don 't necessarily realize the impact and importance to have on our life and how we live vicariously through them. Today I 'm going to talk about one man that took these concepts into his artistic ability and thereby created a whole new culture in what we see is art today. This man who is considered one of the fathers of pop art goes by the name of Andy Warhol.

The duration of copyright determines the length of protection. Limitations on this length exist to ensure works enter the public domain. Therefore, the length of protection is one of the most relevant and debated issues regarding copyright law. The proponents and opponents of copyright term extension make compelling arguments, but both sides agree that copyright law should encourage creativity and innovation. If Disney is successful in once again lobbying for an extension of duration, a substantial number of works will fail to enter the public domain in a timely manner. This will, consequently, lead to a stifling of creativity and a suppression of innovation that could be detrimental to progress in the realms of science and the useful arts.

“We have held that where the works in question are 'so strikingly similar as to preclude the possibility of independent creation, copying may be proved without a showing of access.'" In some cases, the similarities between the plaintiff's and defendant's work are so extensive and striking as, without more, both to justify an inference of copying and to prove improper appropriation. If a plaintiff demonstrates actual copying through proof of a reasonable possibility of access and similarities probative of copying, however, it can prevail on its infringement claim by demonstrating that defendant's work is "substantially similar to that which is original in the plaintiff's expression." With "inexact copies," this assessment proceeds by a comparison of the "total concept and feel of the contested works" as "instructed by common sense.” The court must "analyze the two works closely to figure out in what respects, if any, they are similar, and then determine whether these similarities are due to protected aesthetic expressions original to the allegedly infringed work, or whether the similarity is to something in the original that is free for the taking."

Fair use is the ability to use a small piece of someone's creative work without permission. One can claim fair use only if the work isn’t for commercial purposes, is for education criticism/commentary, news

One of the most common, yet controversial, issues of First Amendment law is the subject of copyright and infringement. Although the subject may not seem major at first, many different issues and controversies have risen and become more common than ever over the years. The issues that have become pertinent to this subject are endless, including trademark infringement, piracy, theft, fraud, plagiarism, and many more. With the coming of age and advancement of technology, these cases have become more common and appear more often than ever before. Government officials have always been strict about copyright rulings, and have tried to deliver fair and just rulings for both parties involved under First Amendment rules. Because the owner’s work and material is protected under the First Amendment, it gets tricky when involving another party that can claim the same work of art. In short, the definition of copyright has always been cut and dry: allowing owners of creative works the right to control and profit from their creations. It is basically recognized as a form of property ownership.

A motion for summary judgment is granted when the similarities concern only non-copyrightable elements of an allegedly infringed work or when no reasonable trier of fact could find the works substantially similar. Boisson v. Banian, Ltd., 273 F.3d 273 (2d Cir. 2001); Castle Rock Entm 't, Inc. v. Carol Publ 'g Grp., Inc., 150 F.3d 132 (2d Cir. 1998); Williams v. Crichton, 84 F.3d 581 (2d Cir. 1996); Walker v. Time Life Films, Inc., 784 F.2d 44 (2d Cir 1986). When the works contain protectable and unprotectable elements, the court applies a more discerning test, extracting the unprotectable elements from the works and asking whether the protectable elements, standing alone, are substantially similar. Knitwaves Inc. Lollytogs Ltd., 71 F.3d 996 (2d Cir. 1995) The discerning ordinary observer test must be applied in conjunction with the total concept and feel after the unprotectable elements are eliminated from consideration. Boisson, 273 F.3d 273. An allegedly infringing work is considered substantially similar to a copyrighted work if the ordinary lay observer unless he set out to detect the disparities, would regard the two works appeal as the same. Boisson 273 F.3d 273; Knitwaves, 71 F.3d 996. In determining whether or not the allegedly infringing work falls below the quantitative

Throughout the years, when there has been a piece of artwork there has always a similar piece of work that made fun of it. That similar piece of work is called a parody. Parodies primarily come in the form of music, books, pictures, and movies. Even though parodies are made to be funny, it still retains some of its formal elements. The work of art either has to be famously well known or widely open for a pun. The main objective in a parody is to imitate or make fun of it in some type of way. In today society parodies enclose us from every angle.

The second approach to copyright is the democratic approach. All works of art are ideas built on a foundation of other ideas. The democratic approach advocates that intellectual property belongs to the society and should be available for the general good of the public. If the particular usage is intended to derive financial benefit or any other business-related benefits, it is considered inappropriate usage. If the utilization of factual work were more usable than the use of someone’s creative work, then that would not be fair use. There is no specified edge to the amount of quoted work that can be called “fair use.” The courts exercise common sense to determine if it was too much. If the utilization of the material created market or stirred a competition, and if the fair use diminishes demand for the original product, it is not considered as appropriate use (Crews, 1993).

Copyright protection does not extend to scenes a faire, which are stock themes commonly linked to a particular genre or characteristics that appear in a work of

In light of these three cases the defense of parody may be disregarded if the plaintiff can argue priority, since the marks are registered in the principle register and have established their mark in the market. Secondly, the defendant has infringed the mark arguably on four counts, through semantics, with the use of ‘pel’ and No. 13 which are both distinctive and non-functional when used together, hence infringes the plaintiffs mark, Chapel and Chapel No. 13 (the argument for Chapel No.13 are stronger). Secondly, they use the same type of dress i.e. astronaut dress and lastly the color i.e. gold. The last two counts are arguable trade dresses but are worth mentioning for the purposes of proving that the defendant did intend to create an association

Warhol, the son of devout Slovenian Byzantine Catholics, learned art from his mother while he lay bedridden from illness at the age of eight. Movies and photography also appealed to the young artist, who set up a darkroom in the family’s Pennsylvania basement. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, Warhol pursued a career in commercial art. Once in New York, Warhol thrived in the business and earned the title of “the most successful commercial artist of the 1950’s.” (Bio.com) In the early 1960’s, Warhol introduced the Pop Art, which captivated the world with bright colors and common items. Apart from ordinary things, Warhol also painted portraits of celebrities in the same colorful style. Warhol painted popular people and things, hence the name “pop” art. He is most well known for Campbell’s Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe, both done in the same colorful style. He enveloped himself his own fame and the fame of others, creating artwork that showed the charisma of both the artist and the subject. Later in Warhol’s career, he explored other art forms, creating eccentric movies and even writing books. (Biography.com

To prove improper appropriation, the author must demonstrate that the allegedly infringing work is substantially similar to the author’s original work, as far as copyrightable elements. There is no uniform substantiality test; however, the ninth circuit has agreed on applying an extrinsic/intrinsic test.

Copyright protection extends to expressions and not to ideas . Originality is the threshold standard of requirement of copyright. The case Walter v Lane [1900] AC 539 expounded the three essential elements (labour, skill and judgment ) of originality. The court adapted to sweat of brow test with no element of creativity require to make the work original. Copyright can be granted if a work is created through the effort of an individual despite the work containing statement of facts and no creative input by an author.

“13 Most Wanted Men” was commissioned to be displayed at the 1964-1965 New York World’s fair, but it was painted over within days of its debut in what some have described as quite literally “white-washing” the work. Warhol printed large images of criminals side-by-side who were suspected of being part of the Mafia; the images he gathered were from a booklet that was released by the NYPD’s Commissioner a few months prior to the fair’s opening day. The piece was 20’x20’ and done entirely in black and white. Gerard Malanga, Warhol’s studio assistant, said “[Andy] thought it would be funny and shocking within the context of a family outing,” in regards to Warhol’s choice of subject matter. The subject in this context is the “wanted” men.