Concept of Copyrights Law or Protecting Artists - Dissertation Example

Download file to see previous pages Despite, appropriation being acknowledged widely as an integral part of art, where elements or ideas are borrowed for creating new artwork, critics claim that copy artists while appropriating, often violate copyright laws and challenge ethical norms, while stretching the boundaries of plagiarism. However, under a current scenario in the US, the application of law in appropriation cases remains ambiguous, while the fact that many cases are settled out of court also tends to set negative precedence. In this paper, the researcher discusses the fine line that exists between fair use and copyright infringement as regards copyright law and appropriation art, while deriving how courts/judges should go about deciding in appropriation between fair use and copyright infringement. The primary aim of the paper is to find a clearer legal stand for modern artists, delineate their creativity limits in terms of law, and find whether the law should be modified or it should just be made clearer and more precise.

1 Chapter 1
1.1 Background study
The recent Cariou v Prince case has brought into the limelight the issue of ‘Fair Use,’ a contentious topic within the US copyright laws, which until recently was overlooked by mass media. The ruling in this case, as awarded by the U.S. district court judge Deborah Batts, was a first of its kind, where the judge declared Prince guilty of violating copyright laws and infringing on Cariou’s copyrights, by using Cariou’s photographs for creating “Canal Zone” collages. The ruling further clarified that Prince failed to meet the four standards used in the ‘Fair Use’ principle, and the paintings (worth millions) stand the chance of being destroyed under court orders (final decision still pending).

Here the harsh decision has inevitably raised the question as to whether a judge is suitable for making decisions related to art and culture. Some art critics have also expressed worry that in the final court ruling if Richard Prince again stands to lose, the art of appropriation would face a devastating effect where many artists are likely to leave their projects, which is something akin to curbing the right to freedom of creative expression. Therefore, there is a general feeling that the freedom of artists may be curbed in the near future through legal intervention in the form of copyright laws.

The US copyright law, a component of the US Federal laws, accords legal protection to the rights of artists and their creative works under the US laws. The copyright law is provided in the US constitution under Article I (s. 8 - Clause 8), referred to as the ‘Copyright Clause,’ where it is clearly stated:

“The Congress shall have Power…To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

The first copyright legislation enacted by the US Congress was the Copyright Act of 1790, which gave protection to a writer’s works while providing him or her with special rights to sell and publish his writings (for 14 years, with scope for further renewal for another 14 years, provided the writer was alive). ...Download file to see next pages Read More