Andy Warhol Foundation, photographer agree to resolve landmark copyright suit

MANHATTAN (CN) — The Andy Warhol Foundation on Friday agreed to pay celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith more than $21,000 to put to rest copyright litigation that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court last year, according to a joint court filing.

The foundation’s law firm Latham & Watkins said in a statement that it was “happy to put this litigation to rest and move forward with its work supporting up-and-coming artists.”

“The foundation wishes Ms. Goldsmith the best,” the firm added.

The $21,000 to Goldsmith includes about $11,000 in court costs, which ends the yearslong litigation.

The suit arose from Warhol’s Prince silkscreen series. Vanity Fair commissioned the renowned artist in the 1980s to create art for a magazine article using a photograph of Prince, which was taken by Goldsmith.

Goldsmith had allowed the magazine to use her work, but she says she never consented to Warhol making an entire series out of her photograph, which ended up being displayed in museums, galleries, books and other magazines for years to come. 

After Prince’s death in 2016, Vanity Fair reposted the original article featuring Warhol’s commissioned work, accompanied by a commemorative magazine by Conde Nast using the entire Prince Series. That’s when Goldsmith contacted the Warhol Foundation for compensation, claiming that the series infringed on her copyright.

In response, the Warhol Foundation filed for declaratory judgment, holding that the Prince Series was protected under fair use.

“The Warhol Foundation brought this case as part of its mission of supporting artistic free expression and celebrating Andy Warhol’s legacy,” Latham & Watkins said in their Friday statement.

But a landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 found that Goldsmith’s copyright was infringed — if only narrowly — in the Conde Nast magazine following Prince’s death. The Warhol Foundation said in the Friday filing that it would pay Goldsmith $10,250 “based on the 2016 Conde Nast license and the Supreme Court’s decision.”

“Lynn Goldsmith’s original works, like those of other photographers, are entitled to copyright protection, even against famous artists,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the 7-2 ruling last year.

The ruling did not deem that the entirety of Warhol’s Prince Series violated Goldsmith’s copyright, however. Still, the Warhol Foundation “respectfully disagrees” with the high court’s decision, according to Latham & Watkins, but it’s thankful for its narrowness.

“[Andy Warhol Foundation’s] position is that the original creation of the Prince Series was fair use, and that nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion undermines that view,” the foundation said in Friday’s filing. 

Photographs like Goldsmith’s are protected by the Copyright Act. Creators get exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute and display their own art. These rights aren’t without exceptions, however. Other artists, like Warhol, can claim fair use to use copyrighted art without infringement. Those subsequent works are then judged for their purpose and the character of their use.

In this case, the Supreme Court determined that Warhol’s use of Goldsmith’s photo wasn’t fair use in the case of the Conde Nast magazine, since both works served the same commercial purpose. 

Lawyers for Goldsmith didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Follow @Uebey

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit