Rock it like this?

Very interesting case around reworking another person's creative work and claiming it as an original... worth a read.


Court Rules for Photographer in Copyright Infringement Case...
"As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, a California district court has granted summary judgment to Glen E. Friedman for his copyright infringement case against Thierry Guetta for creating, reproducing, displaying, and selling products incorporating Plaintiff’s photograph of the hip hop music group Run-DMC.

... more background on the case is available on The Art Newspaper.

As the court explained in its Order, Guetta obtained a copy of the Photograph from the Internet. The photo did not have a copyright notice on or with it. Guetta claimed that his works were not not substantial similar to the photograph, that he did not copy the copyrightable elements of the photo, and that his use of the Photograph was fair use.  The court disagreed and explained its reasoning in the Order.  Summary judgment means that the court has ruled that Guetta infringed Friedman’s photograph.  The court now will move to the damages phase, determining what amount Guetta will have to pay to Friedman."