Graham v. Prince et al

Filing 54

OPINION & ORDER re: 33 MOTION to Dismiss Corrected Amended Complaint. filed by Richard Prince: Defendants cannot establish at this stage that the affirmative defense of fair use insulates them from liability for copyright infringement. On a motion made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), the Court is limited in its review to those facts alleged in the Complaint and apparent from its exhibits and the Court must view those facts in the light most favorable to Graham. Absent a fac tual record developed through discovery, the Court is therefore restricted in its ability to perform the fact-based and context-sensitive fair use inquiry. To the extent that the Court is able to evaluate the statutory fair use factors on the basis o f the facts alleged in the Complaint, the Court concludes that each of them weighs against a finding that Prince's Untitled makes fair use of Rastafarian Smoking a Joint. Because Prince has reproduced Graham's portrait without significant a esthetic alterations, Untitled is not transformative as a matter of law. Moreover, Untitled is a work made with a distinctly commercial purpose; Graham's original Rastafarian Smoking a Joint is, without question, expressive and creative in natur e; Prince's use of the entirety of Graham's photograph weighs against a finding of fair use; and the Complaint adequately alleges usurpation of the primary market for Untitled. Accordingly, Prince's motion to dismiss the Complaint is d enied. With respect to defendants' application to preemptively limit the scope of the damages to which Graham may be entitled, the Court grants defendants' request to dismiss plaintiff's demand for punitive damages but otherwise denies defendants' requests without prejudice. (Signed by Judge Sidney H. Stein on 7/18/2017) (jwh) Modified on 7/18/2017 (jwh).

Case 1:15-cv-10160-SHS Document 54 Filed 07/18/17 Page 1 of 33

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
DONALD GRAHAM,
Plaintiff,
15-Cv-10160(SHS)

-againstRICHARD PRINCE, GAGOSIAN
GALLERY, INC., and LAWRENCE
GAGOSIAN

OPINION & ORDER

Defendants.
SIDNEY H. STEIN, U.S. District Judge.
Table of Contents
I. Background..................................................................................................3
A. The Parties ................................................................................................3
B. Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint ....................................................4
C. Prince’s Untitled and New Portraits Exhibition ....................................5
D. Plaintiff’s Cease and Desist Letter and Defendants’ Subsequent
Use of the Image ......................................................................................7
E. This Action .............................................................................................10
II. Motion to Dismiss Standard ..................................................................10
III. Fair Use .......................................................................................................11
A. Legal Standards .....................................................................................11
B. Application of the Fair Use Factors.....................................................15
1. Purpose and Character of the Use ..................................................16
a. Transformative use…………………………………………..16
b. Commercial Use……………………………………………...20
2. Nature of the Work ...........................................................................21
3. Amount and Substantiality .............................................................21
4. Effect on the Potential Market for the Copyrighted Work .........22

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5. Application of the Fair Use Factors to the Billboard and the
Twitter Compilation ..........................................................................24
IV. Defendants’ Request for Conversion to Motion for Summary
Judgment ....................................................................................................26
V. Limitation of Damages ............................................................................26
A. Actual Damages and Infringers’ Profits .............................................26
1. Actual Damages ................................................................................27
2. Infringers’ Profits ..............................................................................28
B. Statutory Damages, Attorneys’ Fees, and Costs ...............................29
1. Statutory damages and attorneys’ fees ..........................................30
2. Costs....................................................................................................31
C. Punitive Damages..................................................................................32
VI. Conclusion .................................................................................................32
Donald Graham brings this action against Richard Prince, Gagosian
Gallery, Inc., and Lawrence Gagosian for copyright infringement arising out of
Prince’s failure to seek Graham’s permission to use one of his photographs in
creating the “appropriation art” for which Prince is well known. Prince used
Graham’s photograph, Rastafarian Smoking a Joint, to create an artwork known
as Untitled (Portrait) (“Untitled”), which was featured by defendants as part of
an exhibition called New Portraits, as well as in the catalog for that exhibition,
a billboard displayed in New York, and in a post by Prince on the social media
platform Twitter.
Defendants have asserted the affirmative defense of fair use and moved
to dismiss the Corrected Amended Complaint (the “Complaint”), with
prejudice. In the alternative, defendants ask the Court to convert their motion
into a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(d).
Defendants also urge the Court to limit, as a matter of law, Graham’s damages
claims to any profits obtained from the sale of Untitled; to restrict the bounds
of possible statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs that plaintiff may
recover; and to bar plaintiff from seeking punitive damages.
Because the affirmative defense of fair use requires the Court to engage
in a fact-sensitive inquiry that cannot be completed – in this case – on a motion
to dismiss the complaint, defendants’ motion is denied. In addition, because
discovery will be necessary to conduct the fair use inquiry, the Court declines

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to convert this motion into a motion for summary judgment. With respect to
defendants’ request to limit Graham’s potential damages, the Court grants
defendants’ request to bar Graham from seeking punitive damages but
otherwise denies that request.
I.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are as alleged in the Complaint and are taken as true
solely for purposes of this motion:
A. The Parties
Plaintiff Donald Graham, the creator of the original photograph
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint (see Fig. 1 annexed to this Opinion), is a professional
photographer who specializes in portraiture. (Compl. ¶ 14.) Graham began
his career in 1983 and his fine artwork has been exhibited at prominent
museums and art galleries throughout the world. (Id. ¶¶ 14, 18.) Graham has
not only received commissions to create photographs for commercial purposes
but has also licensed his commercial work to numerous publications. (Id. ¶ 14.)
However, “[i]n order to protect its art market value,” Graham generally does
not license his fine art photography. (Id. ¶ 23.)
Defendant Richard Prince is a well-known “appropriation artist” who
created the allegedly infringing print known as Untitled (Portrait) (“Untitled”)
(see Fig. 2 annexed to this Opinion) by “cop[ying],” “reproduc[ing],” and
“modif[ying]” Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint photograph. (Id. ¶¶ 4, 31).
Prince has built his career on “reproducing, modifying or preparing derivative
works from the works of others, typically without permission, and selling
[them] as his own.” (Id. ¶ 15.) Prince’s appropriation of others’ works has
subjected him to copyright litigation in the past; he has previously appeared as
the defendant-appellant in Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694 (2d Cir. 2013). (See id.
¶¶ 26, 47.)
Defendant Gagosian Gallery owns and operates art galleries in various
cities, including one at 976 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. According to the
Complaint, Gagosian Gallery has been Prince’s primary gallery and agent. (Id.
¶¶ 5, 16.) Defendant Lawrence Gagosian is the controlling shareholder of
Gagosian Gallery. (Id. ¶ 17.) That gallery displayed and promoted Prince’s

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Untitled in September and October of 2014 as part of an exhibition of works by
Prince entitled New Portraits (id. ¶ 4), and Gagosian himself allegedly
purchased Untitled “at or prior to the conclusion” of that exhibition (id. ¶¶ 5,
40).
B. Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint
The original photograph at issue in this case is Rastafarian Smoking a
Joint. It is a black-and-white portrait that, as its title suggests, depicts a
Rastafarian man with long dreadlocks, standing shirtless against a white
background, smoking a marijuana cigarette. (Compl., Ex. A; see Fig. 1 annexed
to this Opinion.) Graham captured the image during a two-week trip to rural
Jamaica in 1996, during which he sought to depict “the Rastafarian people in
their surrounding environment.” (Id. ¶ 19.) Graham alleges that he was able
to take these photographs only after gaining the trust of his Rastafarian
subjects by “convinc[ing]” them “that his purposes were artistic.” (Id.)
Graham first published Rastafarian Smoking a Joint in August 1998 and
the work was recognized for its “artistic merit” when it was included, under
license, in Communication Arts magazine’s “Photography Annual 39” edition.
(Id. ¶ 21.) Since then, Graham has sold prints of the photograph to “fine art
collectors” in limited editions and sizes. The photograph is available in an
edition of eight prints – which are 4 ft. by 5 ft. – and an edition of twenty-five
prints – which are 20 in. by 24 in. (Id. ¶ 22.) Graham’s photograph is digitally
available on his websites but Graham has never “licensed” or “made
[Rastafarian Smoking a Joint] available for any [other] commercial purpose.” (Id.
¶ 23).
Graham did not register Rastafarian Smoking a Joint with the U.S.
Copyright Office until October 20, 2014 – after becoming aware that Prince had
appropriated it to create his own artwork. 1 (Id. ¶¶ 20, 39, Ex. C.)

Graham has since applied for supplemental registration in order to correct the date of
first publication listed on the registration; that date should be 1998, not 1999. (Compl. ¶
20 n.1, Ex. C.)

1

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C. Prince’s Untitled and New Portraits Exhibition
Graham alleges that Prince willfully infringed his copyright in
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint by incorporating the photograph into Untitled, a 2014
work that was part of Prince’s New Portraits exhibition, which was originally
displayed at the Gagosian Gallery’s Madison Avenue location in New York in
September and October of 2014. (Compl. ¶ 4.)
Prince’s Untitled is a 4 ft. ¾ in. by 5 ft. ¾ in. inkjet print of a screenshot
taken by Prince that captures a “post” made by a user named “rastajay92” on
the social media platform Instagram. 2 (Id. ¶ 29, Ex. B; see Fig. 2 annexed to this
Opinion.) A screenshot is, in this instance, a digital copy of an Instagam post.
Rastajay92’s post consists of a slightly cropped copy of Rastafarian Smoking a
Joint (id. ¶¶ 31(a), (b)), which he reproduced without Graham’s permission (id.
¶¶ 4, 34). In fact, rastajay92 had “reposted” a copy of the photograph that had
previously been posted by yet another Instagram user, “indigoochild.” (Id. ¶¶
31(b), 32.) When rastajay92 reposted the image, he also commented: “Real
Bongo Nyah man a real Congo Nyah [emoji 3 of a raised fist].” (Id. ¶ 31(b).)
This is a transliteration of the chorus to a reggae song by recording artist
Stephen Marley, Bob Marley’s son. 4 (Id. ¶¶ 32-33.) Rastajay92’s comment also
attributes his post to indigoochild by stating: “repost @indigoochild.” (Id. ¶
32.)
After Prince encountered rastajay92’s post on Instagram, he used the
username “richardprince4,” to add a comment of his own: “Canal Zinian da
lam jam [emoji of a raised fist].” (Id. ¶ 31(b).) Prince then took a screenshot of

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, Inc., describes itself as “a fun and quirky way
to share your life with friends through a series of pictures.” (Compl. ¶ 30.) The platform
allows users to “post” images online to share with their “followers” or the public.
Instagram also permits users to “like” or comment on one another’s image posts.

2

Emojis are small, stylized images used to express ideas and emotions or to depict
objects in electronic communications. Users can comment on Instagram using emojis.

3

Bob Marley is a “renowned Rastafarian reggae artist,” according to the Complaint.
(Compl. ¶ 33.)
4

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rastajay92’s Instagram post, which now included his own comment, 5 as well
as the other elements of the Instagram graphic interface: rastajay92’s username
and comment, the number of “likes” rastajay92’s post had received – 128 in
this instance – and the number of weeks that elapsed between rastajay92’s post
and Prince’s screenshot – three weeks here. (Id. ¶ 34.) Prince then printed – or
arranged for someone else to print – the screenshot onto canvas in order to
create the final artwork at issue in this litigation: Untitled. (Id. ¶ 34, Ex. B; see
Fig. 2.)

Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint (Fig. 1)

Prince’s Untitled (Fig. 2)

When multiple users comment on a post, those comments appear directly under the
image in the order they are made. However, Prince allegedly discovered a way to “hack
into” Instagram so that he could “swipe away” other users’ comments in order to make
his own comment appear in closer proximity to the original post. (Compl. ¶ 37.) This
ensured that both the post and his comment would appear in a single screenshot.

5

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As noted above, Untitled was part of a broader exhibition of Prince’s
work – the New Portraits exhibition – which was displayed in Gagosian’s
Madison Avenue gallery in September and October of 2014. Untitled itself was
sold to defendant Lawrence Gagosian “at or prior to the conclusion” of the New
Portraits exhibition. (Id. ¶ 40.) The thirty-six other works in New Portraits also
feature prints of Instagram screenshots by Prince and were created in much the
same way as Untitled. 6 (Id. ¶¶ 29, 36.) In his own description of this exhibition,
Prince characterized the comments he wrote in those Instagram posts as
“gobblygook” and “inferior language” that “sounds like it means something.”
(Id. ¶ 36.)
According to Graham, while the New Portraits exhibition was ongoing,
“[o]ne or more of the Defendants” used Untitled to promote the exhibition
through websites (id. ¶ 43) and through the exhibition’s catalog, which
“prominently featured” the work (the “Catalog”) (id. ¶¶ 6, 42).
D. Plaintiff’s Cease and Desist Letter and Defendants’ Subsequent Use
of the Image
Graham learned about Untitled in “early October 2014” when a friend
“recognized” Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint image while attending the
New Portraits exhibition. (Compl. ¶ 39.) Several months later, on February 12,
2015, Graham sent Prince and Gagosian Gallery a cease and desist letter. (Id.
¶ 44.)
Graham alleges that, in spite of receiving the cease and desist letter,
Prince continued to make unauthorized use of Rastafarian Smoking a Joint. In
particular, Prince allegedly engaged an agent to “produce and display” a
billboard featuring a photograph of Untitled (the “Billboard”) on a “rooftop
observable from a busy Manhattan highway.” (Id. ¶¶ 45, 101, Ex. D; see Fig. 3
annexed to this Opinion.) The Billboard was on display for “several months,
until at least July 2015” (Compl. ¶ 45), but it is not clear from the Complaint

At least one New Portraits work was created by printing a screenshot of Prince’s own
Instagram post, “without relying on copying the Instagram post of any other Instagram
user.” (Compl. ¶ 38.)
6

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whether it was erected before the New Portraits exhibition closed in October
2014.

The Billboard (Fig. 3)

After Graham filed this lawsuit on December 30, 2015 (id. ¶ 52), Prince
has occasionally posted on Twitter (“tweeted”) about fair use and this lawsuit
in particular 7 (see id. ¶¶ 53-59). On or about January 6, 2016, Prince tweeted a
photograph of an “unidentified person with dreadlocked hair” (apparently,

For instance, Prince tweeted photographs of works from his New Portraits exhibition,
along with the message: “You can’t sue me if its [sic] not for sale. You can call me
asshole lazy shit. But you can’t sue me.” (Compl. ¶ 59.) Another of Prince’s tweets
included a copy of Untitled, accompanied by the comment: “U want fame? Take mine.
Only thing that counts is good art. All the everything else is bullshit.” (Id. ¶ 53.)

7

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not the subject of Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint), accompanied by the
message: “My lawyers say I can’t post Richard Avedon 8 portrait of Rastaj’s
post of man with dreads smoking weed. I’m mixed up.” (Id. ¶ 55.) Later that
same day, Prince posted a compilation of two somewhat blurry images to
Twitter (the “Twitter Compilation”), one of which allegedly features a copy of
Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint. (Compl. ¶ 56, Ex. G; see Fig. 4 annexed to
this Opinion.)

The Twitter Compilation (Fig. 4)

Richard Avedon is a well-known portrait photographer whose works have been
featured at the Gagosian Gallery. (Compl. ¶ 55.)

8

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Prince’s Twitter Compilation contains a cropped, lower-resolution
version of Graham’s photograph, which cuts out the Rastafarian subject’s torso
and includes only the subject’s face, hands, and marijuana cigarette. The image
is not framed in an Instagram post (id. ¶ 57), and is instead accompanied by a
blurry color photograph from an unknown source and the following
statement: “Booze Pot Sex. I guess I was wrong. (Memo to Turner: I DID NOT
take make create this montage)” (id. ¶ 56; see Fig. 4).
Graham alleges that Prince, Gagosian Gallery, and Gagosian never
asked for or obtained permission to reproduce, modify, distribute, or display
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint in Untitled, the Catalog, the Billboard, the Twitter
Compilation, or in any other work. (Id. ¶¶ 4-8, 46.)
E.

This Action

Graham’s Complaint asserts three separate claims of willful copyright
infringement against Prince for (1) the Untitled work displayed in the New
Portraits exhibition and its Catalog, (2) the Billboard, and (3) the Twitter
Compilation. 9 Graham also asserts separate claims of willful copyright
infringement against Gagosian Gallery and Lawrence Gagosian on the basis of
Untitled and the Catalog. He seeks declaratory relief; injunctive relief,
including orders of seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of the various works at
issue; statutory or actual damages; and attorneys’ fees and costs.
II. MOTION TO DISMISS STANDARD
A motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to
state a claim upon which relief can be granted addresses the sufficiency of the
pleading, rather than the merits of a claim. To survive a motion to dismiss, a
plaintiff must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on
its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim has facial
plausibility “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to
draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct
alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A complaint should be

Because Graham’s photograph had not yet been registered with the Copyright Office at
the time the New Portraits exhibition commenced, he only alleges infringement of a
registered copyright with respect to the second and third claims. (See Compl. ¶¶ 66, 70.)

9

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dismissed where the claims have not been “nudged . . . across the line from
conceivable to plausible.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570.
In evaluating a motion to dismiss a complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ.
P. 12(b)(6), a court accepts the truth of the facts alleged in the complaint and
draws all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor. TCA Television v.
McCollum, 839 F.3d 168, 177 (2d Cir. 2016). The court “do[es] not look beyond
facts stated on the face of the complaint, . . . documents appended to the
complaint or incorporated in the complaint by reference, and . . . matters of
which judicial notice may be taken.” Goel v. Bunge, Ltd., 820 F.3d 554, 559 (2d
Cir. 2016) (citation omitted); see also Brass v. Am. Film Techs., Inc., 987 F.2d 142,
150 (2d Cir. 1993).
III. FAIR USE
A. Legal Standards
As embodied in the United States Constitution, the purpose of
copyright is “[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” U.S. Const.
art. I, § 8, cl. 8. To effectuate this purpose, copyright law grants creators a
limited monopoly over the dissemination of their original works. Authors
Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust, 755 F.3d 87, 95 (2d Cir. 2014). The doctrine of “fair
use” is an important limitation on the original creator’s monopoly rights. This
doctrine, as codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, provides that “the fair use
of a copyrighted work . . . for purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching . . . , scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of
copyright.” 17 U.S.C. § 107. Thus, fair use is a complete bar to liability for
copyright infringement.
The determination of fair use is a “mixed question of fact and law,”
which necessitates “an open-ended and context-sensitive inquiry,” Cariou v.
Prince, 714 F.3d 694, 704-05 (2d Cir. 2013) (citations omitted). Courts conduct
this inquiry by considering four non-exclusive factors:
(1) “the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use
is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes”;
(2) “the nature of the copyrighted work”;

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(3) “the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted work as a whole”; and
(4) “the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work.”
17 U.S.C. § 107.
These factors must be “weighed together, in light of the purposes of
copyright.” Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 578 (1994).
Nonetheless, the first factor, and in particular a sub-factor called
“transformativeness,” is at “[t]he heart of the fair use inquiry.” Blanch v. Koons,
467 F.3d 244, 251 (2d Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). If the allegedly offending
use of the original work is “transformative” – that is, if it “alter[s] the first
[work] with new expression, meaning, or message,” Campbell, 510 U.S. at 579 –
it is likely to be “the very type of activity that the fair use doctrine intends to
protect for the enrichment of society,” Cariou, 714 F.3d at 706 (quoting Castle
Rock Entm’t, Inc. v. Carol Publ’g Grp., Inc., 150 F.3d 132, 142 (2d Cir. 1998)). But
see TCA Television Corp. v. McCollum, 839 F.3d 168, 183 n.13 (2d Cir. 2016).
A court cannot engage in the fair use inquiry until it has been presented
with facts relevant to evaluating the fair use factors. See Harper & Row
Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enters., 471 U.S. 539, 560 (1985) (an appellate court may
determine that the fair use defense applies as a matter of law when there are
“facts sufficient to evaluate each of the statutory factors”). Due to the factsensitive nature of the inquiry, courts generally do not address the fair use
defense until the summary judgment phase. TCA, 839 F.3d at 178. Although
the Second Circuit has “acknowledged the possibility of fair use being so
clearly established by a complaint as to support dismissal of a copyright
infringement claim,” TCA, 839 F.3d at 178, there is a “dearth of cases granting”
a motion to dismiss on the basis of fair use. BWP Media USA, Inc. v. Gossip Cop
Media, LLC, 87 F. Supp. 3d 499, 505 (S.D.N.Y. 2015); see also Browne v. McCain,
612 F. Supp. 2d 1125, 1130 (C.D. Cal. 2009) (“[I]n light of a court’s narrow
inquiry [at the motion to dismiss stage] and limited access to all potentially
relevant and material facts needed to undertake the [fair use] analysis, courts
rarely analyze fair use on a [Rule] 12(b)(6) motion.”). In fact, the Second Circuit
has stated that “the fact-driven nature of the fair use determination suggests

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that a district court should be cautious in granting Rule 56 motions in this area.”
Wright v. Warner Books, Inc., 953 F.2d 731, 735 (2d Cir. 1991) (emphasis added).
The Second Circuit’s decision in Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694 (2d Cir.
2013) – essentially a prequel to this action, but arising in the context of a
summary judgment motion – illustrates the application of the statutory fair use
factors to cases involving appropriation art. In Cariou, the photographer
Patrick Cariou sued our selfsame defendants – Prince, Gagosian, and
Gagosian’s gallery – for infringing on Cariou’s copyrighted photographs of
Jamaican Rastafarians. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 698. At issue were thirty paintings
and collages that Prince made for an exhibition called Canal Zone. Prince made
those works by copying and enlarging but also altering photographs of
Rastafarians that Cariou had published in a 2000 book called Yes Rasta. Id. at
698-700. The district court granted summary judgment in Cariou’s favor and
Prince appealed. A panel of the Second Circuit reversed in part, vacated in
part, and remanded, holding that twenty-five of the thirty works were
protected by fair use. Id. at 712. The remaining five works, each of which
involved “relatively minimal alterations,” were remanded to the district court
because that court was “best situated to determine, in the first instance,”
whether these alterations constituted fair use. Id. at 711. The parties
subsequently settled their dispute with respect to those five works. See
Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice, Cariou v. Prince, No. 08-cv11327 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 19, 2014), ECF No. 129.
In its analysis, the Second Circuit placed the most significance on the
transformativeness sub-factor of the first fair use factor – “the purpose and
character of the use,” 17 U.S.C. § 107(1). The majority adopted an objective
viewer test to determine whether the new works were transformative, noting
that “[w]hat is critical is how the work in question appears to the reasonable
observer, not simply what an artist might say about a particular piece or body
of work.” Id. at 707 (emphasis added). After conducting a “side-by-side”
comparison of Cariou’s “serene and deliberately composed” photographs and
Prince’s “crude and jarring” artworks, id. at 706-07, the majority concluded that
a reasonable observer would find that twenty-five of Prince’s works
“employ[ed] new aesthetics” and created “a new expression.” Id. at 707-08.
The majority stressed the substantial aesthetic differences between the works,
pointing out that Prince “fundamentally” altered the original photographs’

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“composition, presentation, scale, color palette, and media.” Id. at 706. These
changes were sufficient to render twenty-five of the thirty Canal Zone works at
issue transformative as a matter of law. Id. at 707.
Although the majority recognized that the works were undoubtedly
“commercial” in purpose, it “[did] not place much significance on that part of
the first statutory factor due to the transformative nature of the work.” Id. at
708.
In analyzing the second statutory factor – “the nature of the copyrighted
work,” 17 U.S.C. § 107(2) – the Second Circuit panel considered “whether the
[original] work is expressive or creative,” and “whether the work is published
or unpublished, with the scope for fair use involving unpublished works being
considerably narrower.” Id. at 709-10 (citations omitted). The majority found
that although the fact that Cariou’s photographs were “creative and
published” did weigh against a fair use determination, this factor was “of
limited usefulness” where Prince’s secondary work was “being used for a
transformative purpose.” Id. at 710 (citations omitted).
The majority found that third factor – “the amount and substantiality
of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole,” 17 U.S.C.
§ 107(3) – was also dependent upon the degree to which the original use was
transformative.
The majority explained that this factor requires a
consideration of “whether the quantity and value of the materials used[ ] are
reasonable in relation to the purpose of the copying.” Cariou, 714 F.3d at 710
(quoting Blanch v. Koons, 467 F.3d 244, 257 (2d Cir. 2006)) (emphasis added).
Because the majority found twenty-five of Prince’s works to be so thoroughly
transformative, it concluded that this factor weighed “heavily” in Prince’s
favor for those works even though Prince had gone so far as to make use of the
“entire source photograph[s]” in certain of those twenty-five works. Id. at 710.
The majority’s inquiry with respect to the final factor – “the effect of the
use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work,” 17 U.S.C.
§ 107(4) – focused on whether Prince’s use of Cariou’s photographs
“usurp[ed]” either the market for Cariou’s original works or markets for
derivative works that Cariou “would in general develop or license others to
develop.” Cariou, 714 F.3d at 708-09 (quotation marks and citation omitted).
Such usurpation occurs when “the [accused] infringer’s target audience and

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the nature of the infringing content is the same as the original.” Id. at 709. In
Cariou, the fourth factor weighed in Prince’s favor because the record
established that “Prince’s work appeals to an entirely different sort of collector
than Cariou’s” and because “nothing in the record . . . suggest[s] that Cariou
would ever develop or license secondary uses of his work in the vein of
Prince’s artworks.” Id.
With respect to the five works that were remanded to the nisi prius
court, the Second Circuit majority found that there were “closer questions” as
to whether they were sufficiently transformative to be fair use as a matter of
law, which precluded the panel from making a fair use determination. Id. at
710. The majority explained that, by painting color guitars, “cartoonish
appendages,” and lozenges over eyes and mouths of the subjects in Cariou’s
paintings, Prince made them appear “anonymous” and “not quite human,” as
opposed to “strong individual[s]” in their “natural habitat[s],” as Cariou had
presented them. Id. at 711. The majority also identified a difference in mood
between Prince’s works on one hand, which combined “divergent elements to
create a sense of discomfort,” and Cariou’s photographs on the other, which
presented human subjects “comfortably at home in nature.” Id. Nevertheless,
the majority considered these changes to be relatively “minimal alterations”
because the two works were “still similar in key aesthetic ways.” Id. The
majority determined that it was unable to say “with certainty” whether the
pieces were transformative as a matter of law. Id. In other words, the Second
Circuit was unable to decide whether or not the “reasonable observer” would
take away a new message or meaning from these five works simply by looking
at them side-by-side. 10
B. Application of the Fair Use Factors
Since it is conceivable – albeit highly unlikely – that a fair use
affirmative defense can be addressed on a motion to dismiss, see TCA Television
Judge J. Clifford Wallace concurred in part and dissented in part because he did not
believe the appellate court was well positioned to make “fact- and opinion-intensive
decisions on the twenty-five works” and instead wanted to remand for the district court
to “take such additional testimony as needed,” in order to analyze all of Prince’s works
pursuant to the correct standard. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 714 (Wallace, J., concurring in part
and dissenting in part).

10

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Corp. v. McCollum, 839 F.3d 168, 178 (2d Cir. 2016), the Court reviews
defendants’ allegedly infringing uses of Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint
by considering the four fair use factors in light of the factual allegations of the
Complaint and its exhibits. Because the principal allegedly infringing use at
issue in this litigation is Prince’s Untitled print, the Court focuses its inquiry on
this particular work.
As explained below, this is not a case in which the “open-ended and
context-sensitive” fair use inquiry, Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694, 705 (2d Cir.
2013), can be properly applied at the motion to dismiss stage. Defendants’
motion is premised on the supposition that Untitled is transformative as a
matter of law and that crediting its transformative character compels a finding
that the other fair use factors also weigh decidedly in defendants’ favor. This
logical chain breaks at the first link; the Second Circuit’s precedents do not
support a finding that Untitled is transformative as a matter of law. Moreover,
because the Court can only review the narrow set of facts that appear in the
Complaint and its appended exhibits – and because all of the plausible factual
allegations contained in those documents must be viewed in the light most
favorable to the plaintiff – the Court cannot conclude that any of the four fair
use factors favors defendants.
1.

Purpose and Character of the Use

As the Second Circuit’s analysis in Cariou demonstrates, the “purpose
and character of the use” factor, and in particular, whether or not a use is
transformative, has a significant impact on the remainder of the fair use
inquiry. In this case, because Prince’s Untitled does not make any substantial
aesthetic alterations to Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint, a simple side-byside comparison of the two works is insufficient to show that Prince made
transformative use of Graham’s original as a matter of law. As a result, the
first factor does not support a finding of fair use at this motion to dismiss stage.
a.

Transformative use

Defendants contend that Prince has made a transformative use of
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint because a “reasonable viewer” would recognize that
Prince uses Graham’s photograph simply as “raw material,” Blanch v. Koons,
467 F.3d 244, 253 (2d Cir. 2006), to convey a number of potential messages, any

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one of which is new and distinct from Graham’s effort to “capture[ ] the spirit
and gravitas of the Rastafarian people” (Compl. ¶ 19). These possible new
messages include: “a commentary on the power of social media to broadly
disseminate others’ work,” an endorsement of social media’s ability to
“generate[ ] discussion of art,” or a “condemnation of the vanity of social
media.” (Defs.’ Mem. Supp. Mot. Dismiss (“Defs.’ Mem.”) 16.) Graham,
however, contends that Prince’s placing of Graham’s photograph into a social
media frame and adding a single line of what Prince himself calls
“gobblygook” (“Canal Zinian da lam jam [emoji of a raised fist]”) cannot be
transformative.11 According to Graham, because Untitled’s “predominant
aesthetic feature” is still Graham’s black-and-white portrait of his Rastafarian
subject, Prince’s piece simply “exploit[s] the creative virtues of [Graham’s]
original work.” (Pl.’s Mem. Opp. Mot. Dismiss (“Pl.’s Mem.”) 9 (citing Blanch,
467 F.3d at 252).)
Viewing Graham’s Rastafarian Smoking a Joint and Prince’s Untitled sideby-side, it is evident that Prince’s work does not belong to a class of secondary
works that are so aesthetically different from the originals that they can pass
the Second Circuit’s “reasonable viewer” test as a matter of law. Cf. Cariou, 714
F.3d at 706 (twenty-five of Prince’s Canal Zone works were transformative
because they “manifest[ed] an entirely different aesthetic” from the original
appropriated photographs). Untitled is certainly no more transformative than
the five works in Cariou that the Court of Appeals remanded to the district
court. The Court of Appeals recognized that the moods and expressions
evoked by those five remanded artworks did differ from those of Cariou’s
original work, but nonetheless concluded that those five works were simply
too “similar in key aesthetic ways” to the originals to be transformative as a
matter of law. Id. at 711.
The reader of this Opinion – perhaps a reasonable observer – is invited
to perform his or her own side-by-side comparison of Graham’s Rastafarian

The Complaint does not explain the meaning of “Canal Zinian da lam jam,” but at oral
argument, defense counsel postulated that Prince may have used this phrase to “invent[ ]
a song” referring either to the Stephen Marley lyrics quoted by rastajay92 or a “prior
litigation” involving Prince. (Oral Argument on Defs.’ Mot. Dismiss, Tr. at 15:12-18, Apr.
19, 2017, ECF No. 52.)

11

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Smoking a Joint and Prince’s Untitled. That observer must conclude that Prince’s
Untitled does not so “heavily obscure[ ] and alter[ ]” Graham’s Rastafarian
Smoking a Joint that it renders the original photograph “barely recognizable.”
Cariou, 714 F.3d at 710. The primary image in both works is the photograph
itself. Prince has not materially altered the “composition, presentation, scale,
color palette, and media” originally used by Graham. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 706.
In fact, the “alterations” Prince made in this case are materially less significant
than those that were found to be insufficiently transformative to clearly
warrant a finding of fair use in Cariou. Prince created those five remanded
works by extensively cropping, collaging, and tinting the originals, and he
superimposed new and incongruous elements – including color guitars,
lozenges, and “cartoonish appendages” – over Cariou’s classical black-andwhite photographs. Id. at 711. Here, Untitled simply reproduces the entirety
of Graham’s photograph – with some de minimis cropping – in the frame of an
Instagram post, along with a cryptic comment written by Prince.
There is no question that, notwithstanding Prince’s additions, Graham’s
unobstructed and unaltered photograph is the dominant image in Untitled.
This characteristic distinguishes the work from other appropriation art, such
as the painting by Jeff Koons at issue in Blanch v. Koons, 467 F.3d 244 (2d Cir.
2006), which was found to be fair use. In Blanch, a case relied upon heavily by
defendants, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision granting
summary judgment to Koons after discovery proceedings were completed,
finding that Koons had made fair use of a fashion magazine photograph of a
woman’s legs resting on a man’s lap in an airplane cabin. Koons incorporated
the legs from that photograph into a massive collage painting featuring three
other pairs of women’s legs, “dangling prominently over images of
confections,” including trays of pastries and ice-cream, “with a grassy field and
Niagara Falls in the background.” Blanch, 467 F.3d at 247. The Second Circuit
relied on Koons’s testimony – available to it as part of the summary judgment
record – that he had “transformed” the photograph by using it as “fodder for
his commentary on the social and aesthetic consequences of mass media.” Id.
at 253. However, the court in Blanch also highlighted how Koons “change[d]
. . . [the image’s] colors, the background against which it is portrayed, the
medium, the size of the objects pictured, [and] the objects’ details.” Id. These
aesthetic changes contributed to Koons’s stated transformative purpose and

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ensured that the new work did not merely “exploit the creative virtues of the
original work.” Id at 252.
No similar aesthetic alterations are present in Untitled. Cf. Bill Graham
Archives v. Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 448 F.3d 605, 611 (2d Cir. 2006) (affirming
grant of summary judgment in favor of publishers that had included
miniaturized copies of plaintiff’s posters in a book in part because the book
“minimized the expressive value” of the original images “by combining them
with a prominent timeline, textual material, and original graphical artwork, to
create a collage of text and images on each page of the book”); see also North
Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Pirro, 74 F. Supp. 3d 605, 615 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) (denying
defendant’s summary judgment motion where an unaltered original
photograph was juxtaposed with another photograph and re-posted on
Facebook, along with a comment, because “[t]he [original photograph] [was]
the clearly predominant feature of the [secondary image]” and “Second Circuit
authority suggests that more is required to ‘transform’ an image” as a matter
of law).
Because Prince’s Untitled is not transformative as a matter of law, the
Court cannot determine on a motion to dismiss that a “reasonable viewer”
would conclude that Prince’s alterations imbued the original work “with new
expression, meaning, or message.” Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S.
569, 579 (1994). Given Prince’s use of essentially the entirety of Graham’s
photograph, defendants will not be able to establish that Untitled is a
transformative work without substantial evidentiary support. This evidence
may include art criticism, such as the articles accompanying defendants’
briefing, which the Court may not consider in the context of this motion. See
Island Software & Comput. Serv., Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 413 F.3d 257, 261 (2d Cir.
2005) (a court may only take judicial notice of facts that are “capable of accurate
and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot
reasonably be questioned”) (citing Fed. R. Evid. 201(b)). In addition, although
an artist’s stated intent is “not dispositive” in determining whether his or her
work is transformative, it is also not irrelevant. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 707 (noting
that if Prince had “explain[ed] and defend[ed] his use as transformative,” it

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“might have lent strong support to his defense”). 12 Being limited to an analysis
of the pleadings on this motion, the Court cannot determine that the
transformativeness sub-factor weighs in Prince’s favor.
b.

Commercial Use

The second part of the purpose and character inquiry considers whether
the allegedly infringing work was made for a “commercial” purpose. The core
concern addressed by this sub-factor is “the unfairness that arises when a
secondary user makes unauthorized use of copyrighted material to capture
significant revenues as a direct consequence of copying the original work.”
Blanch v. Koons, 467 F.3d 244, 253 (2d Cir. 2006) (quoting Am. Geophysical Union
v. Texaco, Inc., 60 F.3d 913, 922 (2d Cir. 1994)). The “greater the private
economic rewards reaped by the secondary user (to the exclusion of broader
public benefits), the more likely the first [statutory] factor will favor the
copyright holder.” Id. Nevertheless, because “nearly all” fair uses of
copyrighted works are conducted for profit, the Second Circuit has cautioned
that “[t]he more transformative the new work, the less will be the significance”
of the commercial sub-factor. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 708 (citation omitted).
Untitled, along with the Catalog for Prince’s New Portraits exhibition, are
both commercial works. Although “[t]he public exhibition of art is widely . . .
considered to have value that benefits the broader public interest,” Blanch, 467
F.3d at 254 (quotation marks and citations omitted), this does not eliminate the
commerciality of a piece of art exhibited at and sold by a commercial art
gallery. Public benefits are especially limited in this case because Untitled was
only displayed to the public at the Gagosian Gallery for approximately one
month. (Compl. ¶¶ 29, 40.) In Cariou, the Second Circuit concluded that “there
is no question” that Prince’s Canal Zone works, which were similarly exhibited

Especially in a case such as this one – where Prince made use of Graham’s photograph
in a way that is not transformative as a matter of law and where defendants posit that the
new work comments on the concept of social media, rather than on anything in Graham’s
original portrait – evidence about the possible justifications for Prince’s wholesale
copying will become relevant as this action proceeds. See TCA Television Corp. v.
McCollum, 839 F.3d 168, 182 (2d Cir. 2016); Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 804 F.3d 202, 215
(2d Cir. 2015).
12

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for a few weeks at the Gagosian Gallery prior to sale, “are commercial.” Cariou,
714 F.3d at 703, 708. But, perhaps more significantly for this motion, Cariou
shows that even a distinctly commercial purpose will be discounted if the work
is sufficiently transformative. Here, due to the Court’s inability on this motion
to dismiss to determine transformativeness conclusively, it is impossible to
definitively assess the commerciality sub-factor.
2.

Nature of the Work

The second fair use factor focuses not on the allegedly infringing use,
but rather on the original work. It recognizes that works that are “expressive
or creative” and “published” are “closer to the core of intended copyright
protection than others, with the consequence that fair use is more difficult to
establish when [these] works are copied.” Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694, 70910 (2d Cir. 2013) (citing Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 586
(1994)). Because defendants do not dispute that Rastafarian Smoking a Joint was
both creative and published, this factor favors Graham.
3.

Amount and Substantiality

The third factor in the fair use inquiry is “the amount and substantiality
of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.” 17 U.S.C.
§ 107(3). The Court must consider “whether the quantity and value of the
materials used[ ] are reasonable in relation to the purpose of the copying.”
Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694, 710 (2d Cir. 2013) (citing Blanch v. Koons, 467 F.3d
244, 257 (2d Cir. 2006)).
Verbatim copying of an entire copyrighted work militates against a
finding of fair use. See, e.g., BWP Media USA, Inc. v. Gossip Cop Media, LLC, 87
F. Supp. 3d 499, 509 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) (“[D]ue to the complete reproduction of
the copyrighted images, the third fair use factor weighs in Plaintiff’s favor.”);
Sandoval v. New Line Cinema Corp., 973 F. Supp. 409, 413 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), aff’d,
147 F.3d 215 (2d Cir. 1998).
Nevertheless, a transformative secondary use “must be [permitted] to
‘conjure up’ at least enough of the original’ to fulfill its transformative
purpose,” and copying an entire work “is sometimes necessary” to effectuate
a transformative purpose. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 710 (alterations in original,

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citation omitted). In Cariou, this factor weighed in Prince’s favor precisely
because in those instances where Prince copied photographs in their entirety,
his aesthetic alterations were so thorough that they rendered the original
images “barely recognizable.” Id.. Similarly, this factor “d[id] not weigh
against fair use” in Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley Ltd., where a
defendant used plaintiff’s “images in their entirety,” but displayed them in
“the minimal image size and quality necessary to” effectuate defendant’s
transformative purpose. 448 F.3d 605, 613 (2d Cir. 2006) (emphasis added).
The Court cannot weigh the third fair use factor in favor of defendants
at the motion to dismiss stage. Unlike the works at issue in Cariou and Bill
Graham, Prince’s Untitled does not obscure Graham’s original photograph but
instead reproduces it in its entirety, in a size that enables the original to retain
its full aesthetic appeal. According to defendants, Prince needed to use the
entirety of Rastafarian Smoking a Joint because he was commenting on an
Instagram post which itself already contained Graham’s complete photograph.
But, as defendants effectively concede, only a determination that Prince’s use
of the photograph was transformative could enable this factor to weigh in their
favor.
4.

Effect on the Potential Market for the Copyrighted Work

The fourth fair use factor the Court analyzes is the “effect of the use
upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C.
§ 107(4). This factor “requires courts to consider not only the extent of market
harm caused by the alleged infringer, but also whether unrestricted and
widespread conduct of the sort engaged in by the defendant . . . would result
in a substantially adverse impact on the potential market for the original.”
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 590 (1994) (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted). The Second Circuit has instructed courts to focus
not on whether the secondary use “suppresses or even destroys the market for
the original work or its potential derivatives,” but on whether the secondary
use “usurps” the market for the original work, as well as potential derivative
markets that the copyright owner “would in general develop or license others
to develop.” Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694, 708-09 (2d Cir. 2013) (citing
Campbell, 510 U.S. at 592). Usurpation of the market for the original work may

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occur when an accused infringer’s “target audience and the nature of the
infringing content is the same as the original.” Id. at 709.
The Second Circuit has observed that “[b]ecause copyright is a
commercial doctrine whose objective is to stimulate creativity among potential
authors . . . , the fourth factor is of great importance in making a fair use
assessment.” Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 804 F.3d 202, 223 (2d Cir. 2015).
Nevertheless, the Court’s analysis of this factor is also influenced by its
resolution of the transformativeness inquiry; “[t]he more transformative the
secondary use, the less likelihood that the secondary use substitutes for the
original.” Cariou, 714 F.3d at 709 (citing Castle Rock Entm’t, Inc. v. Carol Publ’g
Grp., Inc., 150 F.3d 132, 145 (2d Cir. 1998)).
Although the Court does not now have sufficient factual information to
conclude whether or not defendants have actually usurped the market for
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint, this factor cannot weigh in defendants’ favor at the
motion to dismiss stage because plaintiff has adequately pled that the “target
audience and the nature of [Prince’s Untitled work and the New Portraits
Catalog] is the same as [Graham’s] original.” Cariou, 714 F.3d at 709.
First, the Complaint alleges that Graham and Prince both market their
artwork to “fine art collectors” and display it in fine art galleries, including
galleries that display works by both artists. (Compl. ¶¶ 5, 14, 18, 23, 29, 60, 94.)
Cf. Cariou, 714 F.3d at 709 (“market effects” factor weighed in Prince’s favor
because “Prince’s audience” of celebrities and fine art collectors was “very
different from Cariou’s”). Prince may ultimately show that his work actually
“appeals to an entirely different sort of collector” than Graham’s, Cariou, F.3d
at 709, but plaintiff’s allegations raise a question of fact about the market for
each artist’s work that cannot be resolved at the motion to dismiss stage. See
BWP Media USA, Inc. v. Gossip Cop Media, LLC, 87 F. Supp. 3d 499, 510 (S.D.N.Y.
2015); see also Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S 569, 590 (1994).
Second, plaintiff has also pled facts that allow the Court to draw a
reasonable inference that Prince’s work can serve as a substitute for Graham’s
original work, notwithstanding Prince’s alterations. See Twin Peaks Prods., Inc.
v. Publications Int’l, Ltd., 996 F.2d 1366, 1377 (2d Cir. 1993); see also BWP Media,
87 F. Supp. 3d at 510. Untitled contains an essentially unaltered reproduction
of Rastafarian Smoking a Joint and both works are two-dimensional artworks

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made available in virtually identical sizes. (Compl. ¶¶ 31, 34, 95.) Even the
copy of Untitled that appeared in the Catalog was distributed in “a size in close
approximation” to one of the sizes in which Rastafarian Smoking a Joint is sold.
(Id. ¶ 95.) Defendants’ contention that art collectors would never consider
buying Prince’s appropriation art in lieu of Graham’s photograph may well be
proven correct once the facts are fully developed, but, at the motion to dismiss
stage, the Court is required give deference to plaintiff’s allegations. Once all
reasonable inferences are drawn in Graham’s favor, Prince’s Untitled and New
Portraits Catalog can serve as substitutes because they present the entirety of
Graham’s photograph in the same sizes in which the photograph is sold by
Graham, without obstructing or distorting it in any physical sense.
Although it is a more complicated question as to whether Graham can
show the usurpation of any potential derivative markets for Rastafarian
Smoking a Joint, “derivative markets are not the principal focus of the fourth
inquiry,” TCA Television Corp. v. McCollum, 839 F.3d 168, 186 (2d Cir. 2016), and
a plaintiff need not show that both primary and derivative markets for a
copyrighted work have been usurped to survive a motion to dismiss. At this
stage, the “market effects” factor cannot weigh in favor of defendants because
there are plausible allegations that the Untitled artwork – as well as the Catalog
in which it was printed and distributed – share the same audience and nature
as Graham’s photograph.
Because Untitled is not a transformative artwork as a matter of law and
because the Court is limited to accepting the facts as set forth in the Complaint,
none of the four enumerated factors favors a finding of fair use. Accordingly,
the Complaint does state a claim that entitles Graham to relief for copyright
infringement with respect to Untitled and the Catalog that accompanied its
exhibition.
5.

Application of the Fair Use Factors to the Billboard and the
Twitter Compilation

If the Court does not have access to the facts necessary to conduct a
thorough fair use analysis with respect to the Untitled print, it is decidedly
more encumbered with respect to the other allegedly infringing works
identified in the Complaint: the Billboard and the Twitter Compilation. The
Complaint’s allegations about these two works are sufficient to state a claim,

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but leave too many factual questions unanswered about their purposes and
contexts to permit defendants to successfully make out an affirmative defense
of fair use at the motion to dismiss stage.
The Billboard, which appears to include a photograph of Untitled
hanging in a gallery among other New Portraits works, is not transformative as
a matter of law for the same reasons that apply to Untitled. Indeed, the
dominant image for a reasonable observer looking at Untitled in the Billboard
is Graham’s photograph, slightly cropped; Prince’s contributions – the
Instagram frame and added language – fade into insignificance. (See Fig. 3.)
Moreover, it is not clear from the Complaint whether the Billboard was erected
to promote the New Portraits exhibition or if it was only erected at some later
time for some other reason. Indeed, the Billboard “does not appear to
expressly advertise the sale of works or direct viewers to” the Gagosian
Gallery. (Compl. ¶ 102.)
The purpose of the Twitter Compilation is similarly indeterminate. The
message accompanying the Twitter Compilation – “Booze Pot Sex. I guess I
was wrong. (Memo to Turner: I DID NOT take make create this montage)”
(Compl. ¶ 56; see Fig. 4) – is most definitely not self-explanatory and is
interpreted by plaintiff’s Complaint as a “literal” description of the
accompanying photographs’ portrayal of “booze,” “pot,” and “sex.” (Compl.
¶ 110.) Although defendants contended at oral argument that the purpose of
the Twitter Compilation, posted one week after Graham filed this litigation,
was “an act of free expression criticizing and making use of [Graham’s] image
to criticize the lawsuit against him” (Oral Argument on Defs.’ Mot. Dismiss,
Tr. at 41:1-24, Apr. 19, 2017, ECF No. 52), this interpretation is not apparent
from the face of the Complaint.
It would be premature to dismiss plaintiff’s claims with respect to either
the Billboard or the Twitter Compilation on the basis of a fact- and contextsensitive fair use analysis that the Court is neither equipped nor permitted to
conduct at the motion to dismiss stage.

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IV. DEFENDANTS’ REQUEST FOR CONVERSION TO MOTION
JUDGMENT

FOR

SUMMARY

The Court declines defendants’ request to convert this motion into one
for summary judgment pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(d). Rule 12(d) allows
district courts to consider “matters outside the pleadings” after giving the
parties “a reasonable opportunity to present all the material that is pertinent to
the motion.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(d); see generally Sahu v. Union Carbide Corp., 548
F.3d 59, 67 (2d Cir. 2008). The procedure may be appropriate in certain
copyright infringement actions where discovery is unnecessary to resolve a
motion to dismiss. See Newton v. Penguin/Berkley Publ’g USA, No. 13 Civ. 1283,
2014 WL 61232, at *5-*6 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 6, 2014); see also Brownmark Films, LLC v.
Comedy Partners, 682 F.3d 687, 691-92 (7th Cir. 2012). Here, discovery will be
necessary to uncover evidence about the purposes and circumstances under
which each of the allegedly infringing works were created, to ascertain
whether certain of the works were commercial in nature, and to identify the
markets for Graham’s and Prince’s works. Cf. Swatch Grp. Mgmt. Servs. Ltd. v.
Bloomberg L.P., 808 F. Supp. 2d 634, 641 (S.D.N.Y. 2011) (denying motion to
dismiss on the basis of fair use and “declin[ing] to address such a fact-intensive
issue before the parties have had an opportunity for discovery”).
V. LIMITATION OF DAMAGES
Defendants ask the Court not only to find that they made fair use of
Graham’s photograph, but also to limit Graham’s potential damages award by
(1) ruling that, as a matter of law, Graham has no claim to compensatory
damages beyond defendants’ profit on the sale of the Untitled print;
(2) dismissing Graham’s claims to statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and
costs; and (3) dismissing Graham’s claim to punitive damages.
A. Actual Damages and Infringers’ Profits
The Copyright Act of 1976 enables copyright owners to recover either
statutory damages or the combination of actual damages and the infringers’
profits, to the extent there is no overlap. See 17 U.S.C. § 504(a). Recoverable
non-statutory damages are thus comprised of two categories: (1) “the actual
damages suffered by him or her as a result of the infringement,” as well as
(2) any “profits of the infringer that are attributable to the infringement,” but

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only to the extent those profits have not already been “taken into account in
computing” actual damages. 17 U.S.C. § 504(b). In their motion to dismiss
plaintiff’s Complaint, defendants alternatively ask the Court to preemptively
limit plaintiff’s recovery of actual damages and infringers’ profits to the
amount of profits earned by defendants from the sale of Untitled. Because the
Complaint raises factual questions about both actual damages and infringers’
profits – the two components of the non-statutory damages calculation – the
Court denies defendants’ request to limit Grahams’ potential recovery as
premature.
1.

Actual Damages

In his Complaint, plaintiff seeks an unspecified amount of actual
damages (Compl. at Prayer for Relief) because he claims that he was injured
“to a degree and extent as yet to be determined” (id. at ¶¶ 64, 68, 73, 79, 85).
“Courts and commentators agree” that actual damages “should be
broadly construed to favor victims of infringement.” Davis v. The Gap, Inc., 246
F.3d 152, 164 (2d Cir. 2001) (citations omitted). Typically, a plaintiff can
establish actual damages by “demonstrating that he lost sales or other profits
that he would have obtained from the sale or license of the infringed work ‘but
for’ the defendant’s infringement.” Baker v. Urban Outfitters, 254 F. Supp. 2d
346, 356 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (citations omitted). In the Second Circuit, “the
[copyright] owner’s actual damages may include in appropriate cases the
reasonable license fee on which a willing buyer and a willing seller would have
agreed for the use taken by the infringer.” Davis, 246 F.3d at 167; see also Rogers
v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301, 313 (2d Cir. 1992).
Defendants argue that actual damages in this case cannot exceed
defendants’ profits from the sale of Untitled because plaintiff has not alleged
any actual “lost sales, licensing, or other business opportunities” and because
any licensing fee awarded in this case “would necessarily be less than the
profits garnered from the sale of [Untitled].” (Defs.’ Mem. 24.) However,
defendants have not pointed to any cases that hold that reasonable licensing
fees may only be awarded if specific lost licensing opportunities are expressly
alleged in the Complaint. Cf. Baker, 254 F. Supp. 2d at 357-58 (reasonable
licensing fee was appropriate even though the plaintiff “initially stated that he
has only worked on assignment and has not sold or licensed photography in

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his career”). Moreover, defendants’ position that any reasonable licensing fee
will necessarily be lower than defendants’ profits from the sale of Untitled is
itself unsupported by any materials submitted to the Court. The determination
of a reasonable licensing fee for Rastafarian Smoking a Joint is a question of fact,
which could call for the calculation of the fair market value of licensing the
photograph in multiple additional contexts, including the Catalog, the
Billboard, and possibly even the Twitter Compilation. The fact that the
reasonable licensing fee might ultimately be lower than the as yet
undetermined profits from the sale of Untitled does not compel the Court to
limit plaintiff’s potential damages on the basis of the pleadings. Cf. Silberman
v. Innovation Luggage, Inc., No. 01 CIV. 7109, 2003 WL 1787123, at *10 (S.D.N.Y.
Apr. 3, 2003) (“[C]alculation of the appropriate [license] fee is for a finder of
fact at trial, and not for the Court on summary judgment.”).
2.

Infringers’ Profits

To establish an infringer’s profits, a plaintiff “is required to present
proof only of the infringer’s gross revenue, and the infringer is required to
prove his or her deductible expenses and the elements of profit attributable to
factors other than the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C. § 504(b). Thus, the plaintiff
can discharge his evidentiary burden by simply proving the defendants’ gross
revenues; it is then up to the infringer to prove that those revenues are not
linked to any infringing use of the plaintiff’s original work.
In Davis v. The Gap, Inc., 246 F.3d 152, 160 (2d Cir. 2001), the Second
Circuit clarified that the Copyright Act’s reference to “gross revenue” means
“gross revenue reasonably related to the infringement, not unrelated
revenues.” That court held that a designer who alleged that his distinctive
eyeglasses were improperly used in a Gap advertisement “failed to discharge
his burden” by presenting gross revenues of The Gap, Inc., which included
sales from other labels of the company’s corporate family that were “in no way
promoted by the advertisement.” Id. at 161.
Relying on Davis, defendants contend that Graham is barred as a matter
of law from seeking profits that defendants may have earned through sales of
“works that did not contain Graham’s work.” (Defs.’ Mem. 23-24 (emphasis
added).) But this reads too much into Davis. Davis did not disrupt the basic
burden-shifting framework of 17 U.S.C. § 504(b); it does not require the

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copyright owner to provide evidence of “profits derived solely and directly
from the infringing activity.” Fournier v. Erickson, 242 F. Supp. 2d 318, 327
(S.D.N.Y. 2003); see also Broadspring, Inc. v. Congoo, LLC, No. 13-CV-1866, 2014
WL 7392905, at *9 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 29, 2014). After Davis, indirect profits –
derived from the use of the copyrighted work to promote sales of other
products – are still “legally cognizable if the copyright owner can provide
sufficient proof of a causal nexus” to the infringement. Complex Sys., Inc. v.
ABN Ambro Bank N.V., No. 08 Civ. 7497, 2013 WL 5970065, *2 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 8,
2013).
In this case, Graham has not only alleged that defendants directly
profited from the sale of Untitled (Compl. ¶¶ 40, 78), but has also claimed that
Prince indirectly profited by using Graham’s photograph in “promotional and
advertising materials” for other New Portraits works and exhibitions (id. ¶ 62;
see also id. ¶¶ 102, 112), and that Gagosian Gallery and Gagosian “benefited
financially from the publicity and notoriety” they received from the New
Portraits exhibition, in which Untitled was included (id. ¶¶ 78, 84). Graham has
adequately pled a causal nexus between the alleged infringement and indirect
profits by alleging facts – such as the selection of Untitled to appear in a catalog
for the New Portraits exhibition and in a billboard displaying Prince’s works –
from which it can be reasonably inferred that the infringing photograph
generated profits beyond those earned from the direct sale of Untitled.
Because there are factual questions as to whether Graham’s actual
damages exceed defendants’ profits from the alleged infringement and
because defendants’ allegedly infringing profits may include profits beyond
those earned through sales of Untitled itself, the Court denies defendants’
premature request to limit plaintiffs’ claim for non-statutory damages.
B. Statutory Damages, Attorneys’ Fees, and Costs
A plaintiff in a copyright infringement action is not limited to seeking
actual damages and infringers’ profits. At any time prior to final judgment,
the plaintiff can elect instead to recover statutory damages pursuant to 17
U.S.C. § 504(c). In addition, the plaintiff may also seek attorneys’ fees and costs
pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 505.

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1.

Statutory damages and attorneys’ fees

To incentivize prompt copyright registration, the Copyright Act makes
registration a condition precedent for recovering both statutory damages and
attorneys’ fees. Subject to a statutory grace period not relevant here, 17 U.S.C.
§ 412(2) precludes recovery of either statutory damages or attorneys’ fees for
“any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the work
and before the effective date of its registration.”
The Second Circuit, as well as its sister circuits, have uniformly found
that, in the context of an “ongoing series of infringing acts,” the infringement
“commence[s]” for purposes of 17 U.S.C. § 412(2) upon the “first act of
infringement.” Troll Co. v. Uneeda Doll Co., 483 F.3d 150, 158 (2d Cir. 2007); see
also Derek Andrew Inc. v. Poof Apparel Corp., 528 F.3d 696, 700-01 (9th Cir. 2008);
Johnson v. Jones, 149 F.3d 494, 506 (6th Cir. 1998); Mason v. Montgomery Data,
Inc., 967 F.2d 135, 143-44 (5th Cir. 1992). Thus, a plaintiff cannot recover
statutory damages or attorneys’ fees for discrete infringing acts that occur after
the date of registration if they are part of an ongoing series which began prior
to registration. See, e.g., Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc., No. 16CV724,
2016 WL 4126543, at *2-*3 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 2, 2016).
Here, Graham alleges that Untitled was created and displayed as part of
the New Portraits exhibition prior to the October 20, 2014 registration date of
Rastafarian Smoking a Joint. (Compl. ¶ 20, Ex. C.) Therefore, as Graham
concedes, 17 U.S.C. § 412(2) precludes him from recovering statutory damages
or attorneys’ fees related to Untitled. However, it would be premature for the
Court to determine now whether plaintiff is precluded as a matter of law from
recovering such damages and fees for the other allegedly infringing works. At
this early stage, a decision to bar statutory damages and attorneys’ fees for the
Twitter Compilation and Billboard would necessarily be premised on an
impermissible prejudgment that these works can only be infringements if
Untitled was one, as well. 13 Accordingly, the Court denies without prejudice

Each separate allegedly infringing work must be analyzed on its own merits and in its
own context. If, at the conclusion of the fair use inquiry after discovery proceedings, the
Twitter Compilation and Billboard turn out to be infringements but Untitled does not,
then any “ongoing series of infringing acts” will have begun after registration and 17

13

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defendants’ request to limit the statutory damages and attorneys’ fees available
to plaintiff for the Billboard and Twitter Compilation.
2.

Costs

Contrary to defendants’ contention, the Court has the discretion to
award costs for all of the alleged infringements in this action, regardless of their
timing relative to registration. The plain language of 17 U.S.C. § 412 states that
registration is a prerequisite only for the recovery of “statutory damages [and]
attorney’s fees,” and 17 U.S.C. § 505 states explicitly that attorneys’ fees may
be awarded as “part of the costs” recoverable in copyright infringement
actions, “[e]xcept as otherwise provided” by the Copyright Act. Thus, the
statute does not make registration a condition precedent for the recovery of
any “costs” aside from attorneys’ fees. See 6 William F. Patry, Patry on
Copyright § 22:221 (2017); Sykel Enters., Inc. v. Patra, Ltd., No. 03 Civ. 3364, 2004
WL 719181, at *7 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2004) (there is “no statutory bar to
[plaintiff’s] recovery of costs under [section] 505”); Lucky Break Wishbone Corp.
v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., No. C06-312Z, 2009 WL 86491, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Jan.
9, 2009) (“17 U.S.C. § 412 bars only an ‘award of statutory damages or of
attorney's fees,’ and not an award of costs, when infringement predates
registration.”); Cook v. Jane Lyons Advertising, Inc., No. Civ.A. 97-00914, 1998
WL 164776, at *4 n.5 (D.D.C. Mar. 31, 1998) (“Because section 412 only bars the
award of the attorneys' fees portion of costs, the plaintiff's request for those
costs other than attorneys' fees is not stricken from the complaint.”). 14 Given
the lack of any statutory or precedential basis to preemptively prohibit plaintiff
from seeking to recover costs in this infringement action, defendants’ request
is denied.

U.S.C. § 412(2) would not serve as an impediment with respect to the Twitter
Compilation and/or the Billboard.
But see Homkow v. Musika Records, Inc., No. 04 Civ. 3587, 2008 WL 508597 at *5 n.1
(S.D.N.Y. Feb. 26, 2008) (collecting cases and holding that 17 U.S.C. § 412 bars the
awarding of costs for pre-registration infringements because “the recovery of attorney's
fees and costs” is “intertwine[d]” in 17 U.S.C. § 505).
14

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C. Punitive Damages
Finally, defendants ask the Court to deny Graham’s conditional request
for punitive damages in the event that he is barred from recovering statutory
damages. Defendants are correct that, as a matter of law, punitive damages
are not available in infringement actions brought pursuant to the Copyright
Act of 1976. See Oboler v. Goldin, 714 F.2d 211, 213 (2d Cir. 1983); BanxCorp v.
Costco Wholesale Corp., 723 F. Supp. 2d 596, 620 (S.D.N.Y. 2010); Football Ass'n
Premier League Ltd. v. YouTube, Inc., 633 F. Supp. 2d 159, 167-68 (S.D.N.Y. 2009);
Granger v. Gill Abstract Corp., 566 F. Supp. 2d 323, 330 (S.D.N.Y. 2008); see also 6
Patry on Copyright § 22:151 (“Punitive damages are never available for
copyright infringement actions brought under the 1976 Copyright Act.”);
accord 4 Melville B. Nimmer & David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright
§ 14.02[C][2] (2017).

VI. CONCLUSION
Defendants cannot establish at this stage that the affirmative defense of
fair use insulates them from liability for copyright infringement. On a motion
made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), the Court is limited in its review to
those facts alleged in the Complaint and apparent from its exhibits – and the
Court must view those facts in the light most favorable to Graham. Absent a
factual record developed through discovery, the Court is therefore restricted
in its ability to perform the fact-based and context-sensitive fair use inquiry.
To the extent that the Court is able to evaluate the statutory fair use
factors on the basis of the facts alleged in the Complaint, the Court concludes
that each of them weighs against a finding that Prince’s Untitled makes fair use
of Rastafarian Smoking a Joint. Because Prince has reproduced Graham’s
portrait without significant aesthetic alterations, Untitled is not transformative
as a matter of law. Moreover, Untitled is a work made with a distinctly
commercial purpose; Graham’s original Rastafarian Smoking a Joint is, without
question, expressive and creative in nature; Prince’s use of the entirety of
Graham’s photograph weighs against a finding of fair use; and the Complaint
adequately alleges usurpation of the primary market for Untitled. Accordingly,
Prince’s motion to dismiss the Complaint is denied.

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With respect to defendants' application to preemptively limit the scope
of the damages to which Graham may be entitled, the Court grants defendants'
request to dismiss plaintiff's demand for punitive damages but otherwise
denies defendants' requests without prejudice.

Dated: New York, New York
July 18, 2017
SO ORDERED:

£~!~
I

Sidney H . Stein, U.S.D.J.

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