A-H 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: National Coalition Against Censorship, Jeff Koons, Dime (United States Coin)
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Danielle Johnson
Art History 101
Prof. Hayes
9 March 2018
Resolved: “Copyright laws governing the visual arts protect artist’s intellectual property, and
therefore fuel creativity.”
In our capitalist society and growing global market copyright laws in the visual arts
protects artists and fuels their creativity. Copyright laws protect the artists and creators who put
in their time and resources to create original or appropriated work from the public domain, it is
only fair that these persons are allowed time to gain fame and recoup the money spent to create
their work and more.
Copyright laws protect creators and incentivises artists and designers to be more creative and
innovative. The need for copyright laws is to protect the common good from the greed and
disodence of the market economy by protecting the artist themselves.
By protecting one's intellectual property aka ideas artists are given the proper protections
and recognition for their original work. Thus providing more incentive to create and to build
upon the works of others. Very little is truly original any longer copyright law provides the
proper avenues to help those less famous artists gain the recognition and respect for their own
hard work.
[Fig 1] In 1966, famous appropriationist artist Andy Warhol came under fire with the release of
his Flowers series. He was sued by lesser known photographer, Patricia Caufield because of the
use of her photos.1 Warhol was and is one of the most famous and iconic American artists of the
late twentieth century and beyond, the piece was sure to have sold for an exorbitant amount
solely due to the artist’s fame. This is fame and profits that Caufield would never have been able
to receive.
[Fig 2] In the case of Art Rogers vs Jeff Koons copyright again protected a lesser known artist
from having their work stolen. Koons was and is an internationally known appropriationist artist
who came across a postcard who’s image he wanted to recreate the image as a statue for a series
he was working on. The series debuted and Koons sold some of the pieces making a generous
profit; of which Rogers saw not a dime of. Koons tried to claim fair use by parody but
fortunately for Rogers a judge ruled in his favour stating that even a “typical” person or
untrained eye could see that this was a blatant copy2.
Some would argue that copyright laws restrict the “natural” flow of information and prohibit
artists, however when copyright is followed and permissions sought everything works out just
1 "Andy Warhol and the Art of Appropriation." Revolver Gallery. November 26, 2014. Accessed
March 06, 2018. http://revolverwarholgallery.com/andy-warhol-art-appropriation/.
2 Staff, NCAC. "ROGERS v. KOONS." National Coalition Against Censorship. Accessed March
06, 2018. http://ncac.org/resource/rogers-v-koons.
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fine for the overall common good. These permissions allow the authoring artist to be recognized
for their work and make a profit.
Some would demonize “permissions culture” by claiming the fear of prohibitive
permissions costs. This fear causes museums to wholly abandon digital-access projects; and
artists stray from appropriation3. This only henders the common good. [Fig 3] This perpetuated
ideal that artists and historians must rely on outside benefactors takes us back to the middle ages
and renaissance where artists only generated the works that their benefactors wanted to see rather
than the creative genius that they had no resources to explore.
In conclusion, copyright law benefits the common good by protecting artists right to benefit and
profit from their own labor and hard work.
IMAGES
3 Mauk, Ben. "Who Owns This Image?" The New Yorker. June 18, 2017. Accessed March 06,
2018. https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/who-owns-this-image.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Resolved: copyright laws governing the visual arts protect artist"s intellectual property, and therefore fuel creativity. In our capitalist society and growing global market copyright laws in the visual arts protects artists and fuels their creativity. Copyright laws protect creators and incentivises artists and designers to be more creative and innovative. The need for copyright laws is to protect the common good from the greed and disodence of the market economy by protecting the artist themselves. By protecting one"s intellectual property aka ideas artists are given the proper protections and recognition for their original work. Thus providing more incentive to create and to build upon the works of others. Very little is truly original any longer copyright law provides the proper avenues to help those less famous artists gain the recognition and respect for their own hard work. [fig 1] in 1966, famous appropriationist artist andy warhol came under fire with the release of his flowers series.
