The Supreme Court decision over Andy Warhol’s use of Lynn Goldsmith’s Prince photograph was decided on the narrow grounds of a licensing issue. But it could still have a chilling effect.
In a lively argument over copyright law that included many references to pop culture, the justices struggled to determine when a new work transforms an older one.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the fall over whether the artist’s alterations of a photograph of the musician should be as protected as a new, transformative work.
The 1970 clip is a “miraculous” find, a former editor at the local CBS station said. It shows an interview with Prince, 11, commenting on a teachers’ strike in Minneapolis.