Photographer wins 4-year legal battle over Warhol paintings

Andy Warhol
(Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith / Andy Warhol Foundation)

Photographer Lynn Goldsmith has won an appeal over a copyright dispute over how Andy Warhol had used a photograph that she'd taken of Prince. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals has officially ruled that Warhol's Prince Series (which used Goldsmith's image as reference) wasn't transformative, which therefore means that it violates Goldsmith's copyright. 

The 2nd Circuit Judge Gerard E. Lynch has said, "crucially, the Prince Series retains the essential elements of the Goldsmith Photograph without significantly adding to or altering those elements". 

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Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.