Transformative is the word apparent. It was briefly on the news yesterday there's this kid in America who's nicking peoples instagram shots, modding them up a bit, and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars. When one photographer decided to sue, the judge decided in the favour of... yes you've guessed it, the thief.
www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/news/richard-prince-wins-major-victory... The mind goes numb... why can't the photographer get that kind of money for their shots ? what makes this wanker so fucking great anyway that he's able to do... that! It makes you wonder why you became a creative, when tits like this asshole can take your work, break it apart and make a mint from it. The artist (and I use the term loosely) said "I don't really have a message" or any comment on the originals". Some of his catalog was ordered destroyed, but not before he made an epic fortune from it.
Another wanker-thief 'Koons' said "My paintings are not about objects or images that I might invent, but rather about how we relate to things that we actually experience. . . . Therefore, in order to make statements about contemporary society and in order for the artwork to be valid, I must use images from the real world. I must present real things that are actually in our mass consciousness." - yeah, so get out with a camera - Ohh interesting, Click, job done. Use that !
Apparently though it's 'fair use' ... new esthetics, new information, new work, new copyright.
Thoughts ?