LA plays host to two copyright infringement suits
February 5, 2009 at 4:43 pm in Art, Law, Theatre/Stage
A flurry of high profile copyright infringement cases– why now?
One of the big stories being passed around now in Blogland is happening here in Los Angeles, where Associated Press is going after Shepard Fairey for appropriating one of their photos for his Obama Hope poster. In fact, as I type this, there is a story about it airing on NPR.
But Los Angeles could soon be the setting for another high profile copyright infringement battle. And two more are playing out in NYC– one in the theater world, the other in the art world.
In LA, next week the focus may shift to Coldplay and guitarist Joe Satriani’s plagiarism charges against the group, claiming they lifted the tune for their hit “Viva La Vida” from his song “If I Could Fly.”
The band issued a denial on their website but, not having been in LA lately, they have avoided being served court papers by Satriani or his reps. But Coldplay will be in Los Angeles for next week’s Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center. And here’s the fun part: Satriani’s lawyers say they will be stalking the group with a camera crew (!) seeking to serve them with court papers.
If I were Staples (the office supply megastore chain that paid big $$ for the naming rights to the venue,) I would wire Satriani with a microphone, send him dancing onto the stage during Coldplay’s scheduled performance on the live Grammy telecast to serve the band with court papers, and then have him turn to the camera and scream, “THAT WAS EASY!”
The other cases involve the estate of playwright Tennessee Williams issuing a cease-and-desist order to an NYC production of a play called “Blanche Survives Katrina in a FEMA Trailer Named Desire;” and French photographer Patrick Cariou’s lawsuit against artist Richard Prince for appropriating photographs from Cariou’s book “Yes Rasta” for a series of collage paintings.
Is this flurry of copyright infringement cases a coincidence or a coordinated effort by intellectual property rights lawyers in order to have an excuse for more billable hours to make a display for what they believe is just?
For a video tour of the work of the greatest appropriator of all time click here.
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