The estate of Andy Warhol has sued photographer Lynn Goldsmith in a dispute over a 1984 series of artworks featuring Prince. Warhol’s portraits of the musician were based on a publicity photo taken by Goldsmith, who now seemingly claims that the pop art icon infringed her copyright in the photograph when he created his artworks.
The Andy Warhol Foundation went legal last week, seeking judicial confirmation that the Prince pictures do not infringe Goldsmith’s copyright, a move presumably designed to stop her suing the estate. The Foundation’s lawsuit doesn’t deny that Warhol was inspired by Goldsmith’s photo of Prince when creating his portraits, but it says using her photograph in that way is protected by ‘fair use’ under US copyright law.
