Prince Vs Cariou Case Study

Prince v. Cariou Brief A. Statement of the Case Plaintiff Patrick Cariou sought summary judgement on the issue of liability of copyright infringement. Defendants Richard Prince, Gagosian Gallter, Inc., and Lawurence Gagosian sought a determination that their use of Plaintiff’s copyrighted photographs was a “fair use” under the relevant section of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 107 (1)-(4), and that the Plaintiff’s claim for conspiracy to violate his rights under the Copyright Act is barred by law. The Second Circuit Court found (1) that Defendants' infringing use of Plaintiff's copyrighted photographs was not fair use under the Copyright Act; and (2) that Plaintiff's conspiracy claim is barred by law. Accordingly, Defendants'
He then published a book of pictures of his time in Jamaica and titled it “Yes, Rasta”. The book primarily consisted of his poritraits of the Rastafarians and various scenic pictures of the country’s geography. Cariou testified that he had used unique techniques for his pictures and that his artful use of staging techniques and ideas made the pictures his signature work. Hence, Cariou is the sole copyright holder of the all the images in Yes, Rasta. The Defendant Richard Prince, on the other hand, is a well known “appropriation artist”, and has shown his works at the Guggenheim in New York City, and other famous museums and
A creative work weighs in favor of the copyright holder, whereas a factually based work is afforded more leniency. Photographs are these strange amalgamations of fact and fiction, art and the historical. Cariou documented the microcosmic world of the Rastafarians, capturing a piece of history and culture. However, he did so in an artistic way, choosing his subjects, playing with light and color, choosing different angles. The Second Circuit found that although the works were creative and published, this fact did not have much bearing on the court’s analysis when a creative work is used for a transformative purpose. The Court glossed over this factor; however, this is critical because of the spectrum of protection that works get based on their nature. With factual, historical, or scholarly works, individuals are afforded more freedom to use such works than in fictional or artistic