Can I Use This?

Day-One-of-the-Invasion

Legal issues related to appropriated materials in collage art

In Kolaj #15, Steven M. Specht tackles the nagging issue of copyright as it relates to collage. He writes, “The primary concern for many collagists and other appropriation artists involves copyright considerations. That is, when is it okay to use materials that otherwise are protected by copyright?”

This article appeared in Kolaj #15. To read the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Two-Birds-with-One-Stoned

Although most collagists tend not to use original photographs that they have taken, but rather use photographic images taken from secondary sources; I present here an extreme case which is illustrative of the competing interests in the courts. The case, Nussenzweig v. DiCorcia, involved a professional photographer who made an image of an individual who was walking around Times Square and exhibited it in a gallery without the subject’s permission. Somewhat surprisingly, the court ruled in favour of the photographer, saying the right to freedom of expression trumped the right to privacy, in this particular case. Of course, for much of the secondary photographic materials used by collage artists, the subjects are often personally unidentifiable and it would be impossible to obtain permission—so the issue of right to privacy is moot.

This article appeared in Kolaj #15. To read the entire article, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.

Image (top):
Day One of the Invasion
by Stephen Specht
10″x8″
analog collage (vintage and contemporary paper)
2009

Image (centre):
Two Birds, with One Stoned
by Stephen Specht
7″x16″
analog collage (vintage and contemporary paper)
2013