Affirming a ruling deeming Andy Warhol renditions of a photo of Prince fair use could make it difficult to protect creators’ rights to derivatives of their work, a Second Circuit panel suggested during oral argument in a challenge to the decision.
Warhol made a series of 16 paintings and drawings based on Lynn Goldsmith’s 1981 photo. One, a painting, appeared in an issue of Vanity Fair in 1984. Images also appeared in 2016 after the singer-songwriter’s death in an online reprint of the article as well as on the cover of a Conde Nast special commemorative magazine.
While the U.S. ...