Kienitz v. Sconnie Nation LLC - 766 F.3d 756 (7th Cir. 2014)

Rule:

The fair-use privilege under 17 U.S.C.S. § 107 is not designed to protect lazy appropriators. Its goal instead is to facilitate a class of uses that would not be possible if users always had to negotiate with copyright proprietors.

Facts:

While a student at the University of Wisconsin in 1969, Paul Soglin attended the first Mifflin Street Block Party, whose theme (according to Soglin) was "taking a sharp stick and poking it in the eye of authority." Now in his seventh term as Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, Soglin does not appreciate being on the pointy end. He wants to shut down the annual event. For the 2012 Block Party, Sconnie Nation made some t-shirts and tank tops displaying an image of Soglin's face and the phrase "Sorry for Partying." The 54 sales, on which Sconnie Nation cleared a small profit, led to this suit, in which photographer Michael Kienitz accuses Sconnie Nation and its vendor of copyright infringement. Sconnie Nation concedes starting with a photograph that Kienitz took at Soglin's inauguration in 2011. Soglin (with Kienitz's permission) had posted it on the City's website, from which Sconnie Nation downloaded a copy. The photograph was posterized, the background was removed, and Soglin's face was turned lime green and surrounded by multi-colored writing. A magistrate judge, serving by consent under 28 U.S.C. §636(c), granted summary judgment for the defendants, holding that Sconnie Nation had made fair use of the photo.

Issue:

Did Sconnie Nation make fair use of the photo?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The court held that Sconnie Nation removed so much of the original photograph and so much of the original's detail that never had a chance to reach the copy, and what was left, besides a hint of the mayor's smile, was the outline of his face, which could not be copyrighted. Kienitz did not argue that the vendors' acts reduced the value of the photograph, which he licensed to the mayor at no royalty and which was posted on a public website for viewing and downloading without cost. The fair-use privilege under 17 U.S.C.S. § 107 was designed to facilitate a class of uses that would not be possible if users always had to negotiate with copyright proprietors.