Annals of Fair Use ~ Cariou v. Prince

A couple of years ago I posted here on the copyright infringement case that French photographer Patrick Cariou filed against Ricard Prince, his publisher, and gallery representative. At the time I thought the case was a loser for Cariou. He managed to prove real professional and financial damagess, though and it turns out that a Federal Judge has ruled in his favor. As The Guardian reports (and The New York Times here too) the judge has ordered Prince to destroy works with a substantial market value. And the Gallery has to tell those poor folks who bought some of the works that it is copyright infringement to display them! Think what you will of Prince (Me? Answer: not much) this seems like a stupid outcome all around.

In my initial post I suggested a remedy for stupidity - aiming it, mistakenly as things turn our, solely at Cariou. I reiterate my suggestion here and suggest that the judge the plaintiff and defendenet and everyone else do some chillin'.

Annals of Fair Use: “Shame on Al Gore” and Shame on the State of Texas

Cameron Todd Willingham, 1994.
From Texas Death Row © Ken Light.

Regular readers will know that I have pretty expansive understanding of "fair use" when it comes to photographs. I acknowledge that many cases are quite complicated. Some, however, are not. And when Al Gore and his company not only used this image by Ken Light without permission, but then appealed a small claims court ruling in Light's favor, they were well out of line. Arguably, the judge that found for Gore on appeal is totally wrong. You can find a story on the case here in The New York Times.

Even more importantly (Light would surely agree) is this story from The New Yorker, the source from which Al and company lifted Light's picture of Willingham; it argues that Willingham, who was executed in 2004 very likely was innocent of the crimes he was accused of committing.

Annals of Fair Use: Relying on Inheritance & Copyright Laws to Protect Socialist Icon

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, 1960.
Photograph © Alberto Díaz "Korda" Gutiérrez.

So, according to this report in The Guardian, the heir of Alberto Díaz "Korda" Gutiérrez, who made this iconic photo of Che Guevara is seeking to engage in some socialist style "brand management." This, I suppose, is the converse of the irony of various capitalist entrepreneurs plastering the revolutionary's visage on all sorts of commodities.