Techdirt. Stories filed under "paintings" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "paintings"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:50:34 PST Beach Boys Lyricist Goes After Artist Who Dared To Paint Works Inspired By Beach Boy Songs Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120201/01064917617/beach-boys-go-after-artist-who-dared-to-paint-works-inspired-beach-boy-songs.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120201/01064917617/beach-boys-go-after-artist-who-dared-to-paint-works-inspired-beach-boy-songs.shtml alerts us to yet another ridiculous copyright claim (of which there have been a few) from a member of The Beach Boys. You may have heard that, last year, the Beach Boys' Smile album was finally released, despite being recorded in 1966. An artist, by the name of Erik den Breejen, found out about this, and he (a lifelong Beach Boys fan) set out to create a series of paintings inspired by the songs on the album. Sounds good, right? Art inspiring art. Not so much. After completing the works and getting set up with a gallery show to display the works, den Breejen reached out to Beach Boys lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who he figured would like to know about this. Turns out... that wasn't true. Instead, Parks shot back a cease-and-desist.
Instead of fighting back with lawyers, den Breejen and the gallery have approached Parks himself to try to negotiate some kind of out-of-court agreement. Parks was already credited in the exhibition’s press release and in a booklet den Breejen distributed at the gallery, but soon he could be considered a collaborator — entitling him to a percentage of the proceeds. (Van Dyke’s manager did not respond to a request for comment.)

Until the two sides settle their differences, the gallery has put on hold at least two sales inquiries
It's difficult to see how this is not fair use, but since we live in a world where fair use isn't determined until after an expensive court process, we'll never know in this case.

Update: Just some clarifications, as per the comments. Parks was a lyricist for the band, rather than a direct member. Separately the paintings do include lyrics from the songs, which should have been made clear. I don't see how either point really changes the overall analysis, however.

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]]> copyright-dreamin' http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20120201/01064917617 Mon, 9 May 2011 11:03:49 PDT Origami Creators Sue Artist For Copyright Infringement Concerning Crease Patterns Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110507/01344914197/origami-creators-sue-artist-copyright-infringement-concerning-crease-patterns.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110507/01344914197/origami-creators-sue-artist-copyright-infringement-concerning-crease-patterns.shtml Joy Garnett, we discover the latest in a long line of ridiculous copyright lawsuits. Apparently six "origami artists" have sued painter Sarah Morris for using their origami patterns as inspiration for some paintings she did. From the exhibits in the lawsuit, you can see the origami folding patterns on the left, and Morris' paintings on the right:


Yeah. The artists don't seem to have any good reason for this lawsuit, other than that they don't like derivative works. They exaggerate in claiming that copyright holders have full control over all derivative works. That is not true. Works that are transformative (as these appear to be) can qualify as fair use. I also think that if you look at the key prong in the fair use test (the impact on the market for the original), it's difficult to see how these painting are not fair use. They don't compete with the original patterns at all. If anything, I would think those paintings would enhance the demand for those patterns. After seeing the paintings, I'd be more curious about the original origami patterns... if I wasn't so turned off by a bunch of greedy origami artists trying to cash in.

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