Cariou v. Prince
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
714 F.3d 694 (2013)
Photographer Patrick Cariou (plaintiff) published a modest-selling book of serene black-and-white Jamaican Rastafarian portraits; appropriation artist Richard Prince (defendant) incorporated Cariou's photographs, in varying degrees of alteration, into 30 large, provocative collage artworks, with 25 using small, heavily obscured portions of Cariou's images within much larger compositions, while 5 others reproduced a Cariou photograph nearly whole with modest additions like color tint, blurring, or a superimposed guitar. After Prince testified he had no interest in the original photographer's intent, the trial court found no fair use across all 30 works, partly because they lacked express commentary on Cariou or his photos and had allegedly deterred a gallery show of Cariou's own work; Prince appealed.
Whether transformative works that add something new and change the character, purpose, and message of original copyrighted works are noninfringing fair uses.