Artist Richard Prince Sued for Allegedly Stealing Kim Gordon Photo
Artist Richard Prince’s exhibition “New Portraits” was a collection of Instagram photos taken by other people, then reappropriated by Prince. Since “New Portraits” debuted in 2014, Prince has been sued four times over its contents. And now, a fifth: Photographer Eric McNatt has sued Prince for copyright infringement over an image of Kim Gordon featured in the exhibition, as Courthouse News reports. McNatt originally took the Gordon photograph for Paper.
In addition to Prince, McNatt names the gallery Blum & Poe and distributor Oculus in the lawsuit. He is asking for “statutory damages in the maximum amount allowed by law,” and that the sale and reproduction of Prince’s image are stopped.
For “New Portraits,” Prince took McNatt’s Gordon image, cropped it slightly, and posted it on his own Instagram. He then printed a screenshot of that image on canvas. Prince’s Instagram comments read, “Portrait of Kim Gordon,” and then “Kool Thang You Make My Heart Sang You Make Everything Groovy,” as well as a string of emojis. The line is an interpolation of Chip Taylor’s “Wild Thing” lyrics, with a reference to Sonic Youth’s 1990 Goo single “Kool Thing.”
In a statement to Courthouse News, Prince’s attorney said:
The complaint fundamentally misunderstands the case law on fair use and how the exemption from the monopoly of rights granted under the copyright statute applies. Mr. Prince has enjoyed a long friendship with Ms. Gordon and admires her as an artist; this work at issue in the case makes fair use of a photograph of Ms. Gordon allegedly taken in the first instance with her permission by a photographer for publication in (Paper Magazine).
In 2004, Sonic Youth used one of Prince’s paintings from his “Nurses” series for the cover of their Sonic Nurse LP. Earlier this year, Gordon designed the cover art for the vinyl edition of Prince’s Loud Song 12”.
This past, February, Gordon posted a photo of herself holding Prince’s appropriated portrait of her. She commented, “So thrilled thank you@richardprince4.” McNatt’s assistant, Paul Teeling, commented on that Instagram post:
I was there for this photo shoot as the assistant to the photographer Eric McNatt. The shoot was for Paper magazine and Kim you were simply wonderful to work with.. But Kim I want to remind you that Eric got paid $0 for this photoshoot for paper magazine. Whereas Richard Prince has stolen Eric’s photograph and created a print edition that s selling for how much??? How different is this from downloading free music or pirating other peoples music and selling it on the street? Well, actually it’s worse. If there were selling posters of this image I assume you would probably want a cut. Or if you didn’t like the picture at all, you would probably try to prevent it from being printed. You of all people should be at the forefront of protecting artist’s copyrights. I’ve been a fan of you and your music since I first saw you play in Chicago in 1987 at the Smart Bar. I am an artist like you, working hard to create and to support myself with my art. And I am also I’m your neighbor.
I would hope that you of all people would be at the forefront of fighting for artists copyright protection. As an artist and as an activist. I get with Richard Prince is trying to do and seeing how far he can push his past copyright victory. The question is at who’s expense?
McNatt added, “@richardprince1234@kimletgordon ➡️ thank you @paulteeling for your words. Most Kind. This image is copyrighted and actions have been taken.”
A photo posted by Eric McNatt (@ericmcnatt) on Sep 13, 2014 at 12:27pm PDT
So thrilled thank you@richardprince4
A photo posted by Kim Gordon (@kimletgordon) on Feb 16, 2016 at 4:16pm PST
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