Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith

Summary

Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Jackson, held that the first statutory fair-use factor favors Goldsmith because AWF’s commercial licensing of Orange Prince to illustrate a magazine about Prince shared substantially the same purpose as Goldsmith’s photograph, without sufficient justification for copying. New expression, meaning, or message does not alone establish transformative use. The Court affirmed the Second Circuit, addressing neither other uses of the Prince Series nor the unchallenged determinations on the remaining fair-use factors. Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justice Jackson, concurred, emphasizing that the statute directs attention to the particular challenged use rather than artistic intentions or aesthetic judgments. Justice Kagan, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, dissented, arguing that Warhol’s substantial changes in expression and meaning should make the first factor favor AWF and that the majority’s approach threatens creative borrowing.