Pgh. Native Andy Warhol Violated Copyright Law: U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol has been dead since 1987. Musician and film star Prince died in 2016. Yet the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday on a case involving both of them.

In a 7-2 ruling, the court determined that Warhol violated a photographer's copyright when he created a series of Prince silkscreens based on her work. Warhol used a preexisting photo to craft the silkscreens around the time Prince became a pop culture icon in the 1980s with the release of the "Purple Rain" movie and album.

Court documents in the case noted that Vanity Fair in 1984 commissioned Warhol, whose museum in Pittsburgh has attracted fans for decades, to create an image of Prince for an article titled "Purple Fame." Warhol reimagined photographer Lynn Goldsmith's work for the image.

Following Prince's death, Vanity Fair published a tribute using one of the silkscreen images on the magazine's cover. The Warhol Foundation went to court seeking a declaration of copyright non-infringement; Goldsmith countersued claiming copyright infringement.

“Goldsmith’s original works, like those of other photographers, are entitled to copyright protection, even against famous artists," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion. "Such protection includes the right to prepare derivative works that transform the original."

In a dissent from Justice Elena Kagan that was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Kagan wrote: : “It will stifle creativity of every sort. It will impede new art and music and literature. It will thwart the expression of new ideas and the attainment of new knowledge. It will make our world poorer.”