Jeff Koons is at it again. He’s been sued for copyright infringement, this time by an artist who created an advertisement for a French clothing brand, Naf Naf.
You can see images of the original advertisement and of Koons’s adaptation at the following links:
- http://www.madmoizelle.com/jeff-koons-accuse-plagiat-naf-naf-308064
- http://news.artnet.com/market/jeff-koons-sued-for-plagiarism-201510
- http://www.glamourparis.com/snacking-du-web/articles/l-artiste-jeff-koons-accuse-d-avoir-plagie-une-publicite-naf-naf/24616
Koons has been sued often enough that it’s reasonable to conclude that he is not merely playing with impressions of art (well or poorly? – opinions are divided). Koons, I think, is using the copyright system itself as a canvas. Back in law school, the great Robert Ellickson pointed me to a reflection by Christo (“Running Fence,” the Central Park “Gates,” etc.) that has been stored in the back of my mind for nearly 30 years:
Christo endured years of zoning battles with local authorities before erecting his “Running Fence” in Sonoma County, California: “It’s hard to explain that the work is not only the fabric, steel poles, or Fence. Everybody here [at the zoning hearing] is part of my work. Even those who don’t want to be are part of my work….” (quotation from Milner S. Ball, Good Old American Permits: Madisonian Federalism on the Territorial Sea and Continental Shelf, 12 ENVTL. L. 623, 656 (1982)).
Does Koons think that he is … Christo?