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Appropriation Artist Jeff Koons Threatens Company & Retailers For Selling Classic Balloon Dog Bookends
from the appropriate-this dept
Famed appropriation artist Jeff Koons has been sued multiple times for copyright infringement, having to defend his use of works he found elsewhere to build on and create new works. You would think, then, that he might be sympathetic to others who build on his work. Apparently, he's internalized the opposite message, and decided that if others can sue him for copyright infringement, he might as well start going after those who use his work as inspiration. The EFF points us to the news that Koons has been sending cease-and-desist letters to the makers and retailers of a balloon dog bookend. Apparently, one of Koons' recent sculptures is of a balloon dog. Of course, this is a classic and incredibly common form of balloon animal, and it's difficult to see how Koons' statue contains very much protectable expression. Yet, it didn't stop him from ordering a San Francisco store to stop selling the bookends, send them to Koons, and to reveal how many had been sold. The Bay Citizen, which reported on this in the link above, put together the following comparison of Koons statue and the bookend in question:
On the left is the bookend. On the right is Koons statue. Both look like tons of balloon dogs that have been created by party clowns for ages. To now claim that Koons has some sort of ownership over the balloon dog he copied from elsewhere seems like a particularly ridiculous form of hubris. Of course, copyright is only supposed to cover the specific parts of expression that are unique and creative. It's hard to see how much, if anything, associated with Koons' sculpture is "unique," and thus almost nothing (or, perhaps nothing at all) seems like it should be protectable. Hopefully, some of those threatened with a cease-and-desist letter will stand up to Koons and give him another copyright education.
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He has to be joking.
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Re: He has to be joking.
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Dang, and I had so many buzzwords built into that comment ...
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Which just goes to show how different they are.
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And is it me, or does this look like a horrible shape for a book end? It's more of a paper weight...oh wait...I just came up with a product idea.
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Re: He has to be joking.
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New Plan
2. Sue makers of notebook paper and any novelty items that resemble notbook paper.
3. Profit!
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Re: New Plan
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Makes Sense
So, by one definition, Koons is a thief seeking to increase the value of his theft.
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CBMHB
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Potential to be hoist by his own pitard?
Either way, I figure with the added publicity, both parties stand to make more money.
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Re: Potential to be hoist by his own pitard?
But like most, I don't see any particular similarity between Koon's work and the bookends. Maybe if they were both the same shiny bronze color. Otherwise the bookends look like a balloon dog.
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By the way, all of you now owe me money because I'm going to go ahead and say that the use of a period (.) to mock someone else is my copyright. I'll need your IP, home, and work addresses. Thanks!
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Maybe, but that's a lot closer question.
"A bookend is not a piece of art."
If true, so what? That's not relevant to copyright infringement.
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I believe that this case is silly, but I disagree with the above statement. A bookend can most certainly be art.
Also, my periods are a derivative work. You can just sue me and my ISP will probably give you my IP address. :P
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Clearly transformative.
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Even if he can claim some minimal, paper-thin copyright over his own balloon-dog sculpture (which is questionable), that could only cover an exact or very, very nearly exact copy, which the book-end is not.
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Breaking News, Koons just recieved a C&D!
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Check him or his spouses friends or relatives and I can guarantee one of them is a lawyer. Lawyers don't care about law. They only care about setting precedents.
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Was that intended to be ironic?
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Bookends are sold out
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And then send him a letter of just haha repeated for a full page.
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