Slammin with Jeff and Damien (2009)

artdesigncafé | Creative Business & Entrepreneurship | Published 01 October 2009
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Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst & copyright: 1 | 2

In 2006, years after the String of Puppies case, Jeff Koons broke legal ground in a case surrounding a piece called Niagara that incorporated the reproduction of a fashion photographer’s image of women’s feet in stiletto heels. [Blanch v. Koons, No. 03 Civ. 8026 (LLS), S.D.N.Y., Nov. 1 2005 (slip op.), affirmed by the Second Circuit October, 2006.]

The case suggests that Jeff Koons prevailed mainly because Niagara (2000) had a lot more content than just the one photograph he copied, resulting in a new work that the judge called “transformative”; in other words, the Court decided it had sufficient originality to transcend the element of copying.

So there’s a lesson for artists who want to operate within the parameters of copyright law—be original. And cheers for freedom of expression even if Jeff wasn’t awarded the extensive sums spent on lawyer’s fees and costs.

Niagara features some very enticing and expensive looking footwear indeed, and is bound to appeal to folk blessed with large pension funds unscathed by current economic crises and a closetful of Manolo Blahniks; not to mention Punk Lawyer, whose eclectic tastes do not shy away from high fashion stiletto heels and strategically torn fishnet hose. But as far as social commentary is concerned, a cursory analysis of Niagara suggests an allusion to the unforgiving dictates of women’s fashion contrasted with the irresistible appeal of American style doughnuts. But we digress yet again— this a subjective matter, one for the art critics to chew over.

Back in the UK, Damien Hirst has been slamming away in a different direction. The master of irony who so boldly appropriated a copyright in its entirety to create Hymn and sold it for a reported million pounds, recently was reported in The Independent to have stopped an enterprising teenage artist, Cartrain, from using a copy of a picture of his diamond-encrusted skull sculpture For the Love of God in a collage and selling copies of it on the internet for £65.

In the face of what probably seemed a daunting legal challenge, the young entrepreneur relinquished remaining copies of the work and duly ceased and desisted production. One wonders however, if he’d had a million or so to spend on a lawsuit, he might have hired Jeff Koons’ legal talent to try to make a defence of “transformation” along the lines of the Niagara case. But perhaps the lad will make his career on the back of the publicity.

Whatever happened to cutting-edginess? Punk nihilism points to defying cultural norms, and in the culture of acquisition in which we live, the norm is to protect narrow economic interests. Damien, why not opt against the norm by allowing emerging artists to use elements of your work to say something new? And Jeff, how would you react if someone used a bit of your work to make a point?

There are a lot of emerging artists out there, and you never know what they might do. We’re just sitting here eatin’ doughnuts and spit-shining our diamanté-encrusted stilettos.

Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst & copyright: 1 | 2

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