Jeff Koons describes his affinity for creating a dialogue with other artists by referencing art history — both Classical and Modern — in his work. From ArtBabble: Jeff Koons plucks images and objects from popular culture, framing questions about taste and pleasure. His contextual sleight-of-hand, which transforms banal items into sumptuous icons, takes on a [...]

In spring 2009, Shepard Fairey, Steven Johnson, and Lawrence Lessig sat down at the New York Public Library to discuss balancing artistic freedom and copyright law. Lessig mentions Viacom’s policy toward remixing, noting that the media giant will not remove videos with transformative elements in order to encourage creativity. In light of the recent Viacom [...]

It’s not uncommon for artists to settle disputes out of court to avoid protracted litigation. For instance, in 1980 Robert Rauschenberg settled with photographer Morton Beebe after discovering that his photograph was used in Rauschenberg’s seminal work Pull (1974). The agreement included $3,000 and a copy of the work. Whether for financial or PR reasons, [...]

Willem B. pointed me towards a great post by David Bollier from On The Commons. It explores transformative literature via a mashup of Nabokov’s Lolita and Lawrence Lessig’s The Future of Ideas. Otto Lambert’s A Tangle of Thorns Or, the Fair Use of the Commons in a Transformative World “improbably manages to blend the warped, [...]

National Public Radio issued a cease and desist letter to the Yes on One/Stand for Marriage Maine campaign alleging that a 30 second segment used in an anti-gay marriage advertisement was copyright infringement.  Asserting that the complaint was “ridiculous and frivolous,” Scott Fish, spokesman for the campaign to repeal the gay marriage law in Maine, [...]

Shepard Fairey, the artist responsible for the iconic ‘Hope’ poster of President Obama during last year’s election, admitted to using the same photo as alleged by the Associated Press (AP). Since his suit for declaratory judgment and the counter-suit by the AP, Fairey has argued that the original  photo in question differed. Apparently, the artist [...]

The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) recently launched. OTW is “a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms.” OTC promotes creativity by pushing the boundaries of copyright protection. The volunteer-based organization supports fanworks as [...]