Appropriation Art and the Law: Originality is in the Eye of the Beholder (original) (raw)

Copyright, Borrowed Images and Appropriation Art: An Economic Approach

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Whenever people's response is 'how dare you!' I consider that a high compliment. First of all, taking from other artists is not illegal in the art world, as it is in the music industry, and second, it is a direct acknowledgment of how we work in painting. Everything you do is based on what came before and what is happening concurrently. I don't see history as monolithic. I feel very free to take and change whatever I want, and that includes borrowing from my contemporaries. If some people are upset because my work has similarities to what they're doing, that's their problem. And if they take from me, that's great! I don't respect these artificial boundaries that artists and people around artists erect to keep you in a certain category. 2 The law takes a more traditional view of appropriation art. Artists re

Originality in Postmodern Appropriation Art

Analytic analyses of "originality" as a property of works or as a property of artists have proven inadequate. But the denial of the existence of "originality" by post-modern appropriation artists and philosophers relies on a limited sense of "originality" that misconstrues the term as it is used in artistic and philosophical literature. I propose an approach to understanding "originality" which distinguishes (a) the meaning of "originality" as a relationship between the artist and the work of art, and (b) the evidence we use to assess originality, including both the relationship of the artist to the work and the relationship of the work to other works of art. This analysis better accounts for use of the concept, both in the so-called "artworld" and in a recent opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court on minimal standards for originality under Federal Copyright Law.

Art and Politics of Appropriation

2012

This thesis works towards a theory of creative appropriation as critical praxis. Defining ‘appropriation’ as the re-use of already-authored cultural matter, I investigate how the ubiquity of aesthetically and commercially motivated appropriative practices has impacted concepts of creativity, originality, authorship and ownership. Throughout this thesis, appropriation is understood as bridging the artistic, political, economic, and scientific realms. As such, it strongly affects cultural and socio-political landscapes, and has become an ideal vehicle for effectively criticizing and, perhaps, radically changing dominant aesthetic, legal and ethical discourses regarding the (re)production, ownership and circulation of knowledge, artifacts, skills, resources, and cultural matter in general. Critical appropriation is thus posited as a political strategy that can draw together the different causes motivating appropriative processes across the globe, and organize them for the benefit of a ...

Appropriation Art and Cultural Institutions

This article explores the possibilities and pitfalls connected with the creative use of pre-existing images with themes linked to appropriation, creativity and collaborative practices. Appropriation is an absolutely legitimate art practice, as far as the art world is concerned. However, on the one hand, this artistic movement has been frustrating the legal experts, since it ignores and thus challenges major criteria of the copyright law such as originality and author- ship. On the other hand, it has attracted the attention of the National Courts in applying the fair use exception or proceeding in a broad interpretation of the citation exception for artistic purposes. Many museums and art galleries have embraced appropriation artistic practices in recent years in order to transgress the traditional notion of the museum as a cultural depository or a centre of research and to establish a creative dialogue with the public, to force the public to think about art. But what are the copyright implications of this movement? When do creative acts stop and copyright infringement begin? What are the museums’ obligations towards this phenomenon?

(Copy)wrong? Authorship, Appropriation, and ‘Fair’ Use

(Copy)wrong? Authorship, Appropriation, and ‘Fair’ Use Or, The American legal system’s shortsighted approach to aesthetic judgment and the consequences of Copyright Law on the creative processes of artistic production.

Fair Use in the Rag Trade: In Defense of the Fashion Industry’s Casual Appropriation of Artwork

Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts, 2023

Throughout history, the concept of appropriation has been understood as an act by which an interloper takes the work of another without consent and uses it for a different, typically self-serving, purpose. This concept, however, has become increasingly misapplied by courts in the context of art, and is particularly flawed when applied to fashion art. Recent federal case law purporting to clarify the appropriation doctrine for the art world has only served to muddle it further, as judges have struggled to make determinations on issues of artistry. As such, the existing rules are not only muddy, but also specious, when related to fashion. This Article analyzes the weaknesses in the current judicial framework governing art appropriation and demonstrates why the existing framework should not apply to fashion as a unique and transformative form of art.

Appropriation and Authorship in Contemporary Art

British Journal of Aesthetics, 2005

Appropriation art has often been thought to support the view that authorship in art is an outmoded or misguided notion. Through a thought experiment comparing appropriation art to a unique case of artistic forgery, I examine and reject a number of candidates for the distinction that makes artists the authors of their work while forgers are not. The crucial difference is seen to lie in the fact that artists bear ultimate responsibility for whatever objectives they choose to pursue through their work, whereas the forger's central objectives are determined by the nature of the activity of forgery.