Monday, October 30, 2006
Koons 'Transformative' Use of Photo Affirmed by Circuit
This NY Law Journal article was of particular interest to me since the crux of my work is ripping off other people's styles. (Did I really just say that?)
I learned quite a bit about intellectual property law while making my second poster, the ABC's of NYC. For this poster, I drew each letter of the alphabet representing a prominent NYC landmark (D is for D-Train, J is for Junior's, K is for Knicks, etc.). Many of the NYC icons are trademarked, so I had to obtain formal permission from each respective entity before I could print or sell the poster. This was tricky.
People were much more cooperative than I expected. I actually did obtain formal licenses from the MTA, Junior's, the NBA, Major League Baseball (for the Mets only; the Yankees said no), and Tischman-Speyer properties to include logos or variations of logos in my poster. However, the following people said no:
1) Empire State Building - I originally wanted the Empire State Building for my letter E. Specifically, I planned to draw the building at night, with the letter E lit prominently into the top of the building. I wrote the ESB, but was told "Our standard License Fee for usage of the trademarked image is $10,000." East River worked just as well.
2) NY Yankees - This was a difficult day for my husband, especially since the Mets allowed me to use Mr. Met for M. I used York Avenue instead for the letter Y, which I have to say was a pale substitute.
3) FDNY & NYPD - These were my original choices for the letters F and N. Unfortunately, NYC Marketing was so slow in responding to my request that I had already printed the poster by the time I received a response. I used Fashion and Natural History Museum as the substitute letters.
4) Guggenheim & Donald Trump - These people blew me off completely. I was disappointed by the Guggenheim (I did work there, after all), but not surprised. And Trump I just wrote to amuse myself.
In short, while securing the licenses was an interesting exercise, my upcoming posters will be decidedly license-free.
This NY Law Journal article was of particular interest to me since the crux of my work is ripping off other people's styles. (Did I really just say that?)
I learned quite a bit about intellectual property law while making my second poster, the ABC's of NYC. For this poster, I drew each letter of the alphabet representing a prominent NYC landmark (D is for D-Train, J is for Junior's, K is for Knicks, etc.). Many of the NYC icons are trademarked, so I had to obtain formal permission from each respective entity before I could print or sell the poster. This was tricky.
People were much more cooperative than I expected. I actually did obtain formal licenses from the MTA, Junior's, the NBA, Major League Baseball (for the Mets only; the Yankees said no), and Tischman-Speyer properties to include logos or variations of logos in my poster. However, the following people said no:
1) Empire State Building - I originally wanted the Empire State Building for my letter E. Specifically, I planned to draw the building at night, with the letter E lit prominently into the top of the building. I wrote the ESB, but was told "Our standard License Fee for usage of the trademarked image is $10,000." East River worked just as well.
2) NY Yankees - This was a difficult day for my husband, especially since the Mets allowed me to use Mr. Met for M. I used York Avenue instead for the letter Y, which I have to say was a pale substitute.
3) FDNY & NYPD - These were my original choices for the letters F and N. Unfortunately, NYC Marketing was so slow in responding to my request that I had already printed the poster by the time I received a response. I used Fashion and Natural History Museum as the substitute letters.
4) Guggenheim & Donald Trump - These people blew me off completely. I was disappointed by the Guggenheim (I did work there, after all), but not surprised. And Trump I just wrote to amuse myself.
In short, while securing the licenses was an interesting exercise, my upcoming posters will be decidedly license-free.
