Here’s a case that will interest any museum with sculpture outside: the sculptor who created the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC, is suing the US Postal Service over use of a (licensed) photograph of the sculpture on a stamp — or more precisely for reproduction of the underlying work of art in the photograph.
Here’s the story from Techdirt, and here’s another article from Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society. The Center has submitted an amicus brief (available at the same link) supporting the defendent’s fair use claim, and it makes interesting reading. Anyone interested in fair use in publicly-viewable sculpture, transformative use, and the like should have a look.
August 12th, 2009 08:45
Its ironic that the US Post has copyrighted its own stamps while claiming fair use for what it has prtrayed within.