Screenshots, Lawsuits & "Fair Use"? — Richard Prince and the Instagram Appropriation Controversy
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🔍 Case
Richard Prince, a New York-based contemporary artist known for testing the limits of appropriation, sparked major legal and ethical debate when he took screenshots of other people’s Instagram posts, added short, cryptic comments underneath them, blew them up on canvas and sold them as art.
Many of these works appeared in his “New Portraits” series, which was displayed at the Gagosian Gallery and sold for up to $100,000 each.
One of the most widely discussed examples involved a screenshot of Emily Ratajkowski, a model and actress, whose post Prince used without permission. Others included photos by Donald Graham, a professional photographer, and Doe Deere, a beauty entrepreneur.
🧾 Key Legal Principle
This case dives into the murky waters of fair use and transformative work under U.S. copyright law.
Prince’s defence hinges on this:
- “I added a comment. I reframed the meaning. That makes it transformative, and thus fair use.”
The plaintiffs, however, argue:
- “You used our exact images, unchanged, and made money. That’s infringement, not transformation.”
This case raises the question:
- Can simply adding a caption or recontextualizing someone else’s image count as enough transformation to escape infringement?
💬 Analysis
Let’s break it down:
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Minimal change: Prince didn’t edit the images much, he mainly added a line of text and exhibited them in a new format (from screen to canvas).
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Commercial use: These works were not just for critique or commentary; they were sold for large sums, making it hard to argue “fair use.”
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Permission not granted: None of the original creators were asked for consent, raising both legal and ethical red flags.
Critics say Prince is exploiting platforms like Instagram, where creators share work assuming a kind of “communal respect.” But Prince sees it as remix culture, part of a long tradition of found object art, from Duchamp’s urinal to Warhol’s soup cans.
📌 Results & Consequences
Multiple lawsuits were filed:
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Donald Graham v. Richard Prince (2015 – ongoing): Graham sued over Prince using a photo of a Rastafarian man without consent. In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Prince’s use was not protected under fair use, and the case would proceed to trial.
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Emily Ratajkowski responded artistically by creating her own “appropriated” work called Buying Myself Back, commenting on the objectification of women in art.
These outcomes reinforced a key message:
- Fair use has limits. “Transformative” means more than just clever placement or commentary.
The legal saga is still developing but it's already impacted how artists and social media users think about image ownership.
✍️ Blogger's Perspective
The Prince Instagram case is the perfect storm of copyright law, internet culture, and artistic ego. It forces us to ask uncomfortable questions:
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Where is the line between inspiration and theft?
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Do memes, reposts, and remixes deserve the same protection as traditional artworks?
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And most importantly: When is something truly your own?
As creators post more work online, especially on platforms like Instagram, this case serves as a warning and a wake-up call. Visibility does not equal consent. And if you're profiting from someone else's content? You're entering dangerous territory.
For artists, this is about more than law, it’s about respect, credit, and creative ethics in the digital age.
💡 Conclusion
The Richard Prince Instagram Case is a lightning rod in the modern copyright world. It’s not just about whether a comment under a photo counts as transformation, it’s about how we define art, ownership, and value in a world flooded with content.
Whether you see Prince as a provocateur or a pirate, one thing is clear: This case will shape how artists, influencers, and platforms think about image rights for years to come.
By: Nur Adriana Binti Mohamed Razif
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