Artist Who Taped Banana to Wall Beats Appeal of Suit Dismissal

The artist behind a display of a banana duct taped to a wall at the 2019 Art Basel fair was once again cleared of an American artist’s copyright claims by a federal appeals panel Friday.

Maurizio Cattelan’s award of summary judgment by a district court was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, according to a per curiam opinion. American artist Joe Morford failed to present sufficient evidence to establish that Cattelan had a reasonable opportunity to access his art piece “Banana and Orange” before presenting his similar work entitled “Comedians.”

Morford alleged that Cattelan infringed ...