Appropriation Artist Jeff Koons Threatens Company & Retailers For Selling Classic Balloon Dog Bookends

from the appropriate-this dept

Thu, Jan 6th 2011 12:57pm — Mike Masnick

Famed appropriation artist Jeff Koons has been sued multiple times for copyright infringement, having to defend his use of works he found elsewhere to build on and create new works. You would think, then, that he might be sympathetic to others who build on his work. Apparently, he's internalized the opposite message, and decided that if others can sue him for copyright infringement, he might as well start going after those who use his work as inspiration. The EFF points us to the news that Koons has been sending cease-and-desist letters to the makers and retailers of a balloon dog bookend. Apparently, one of Koons' recent sculptures is of a balloon dog. Of course, this is a classic and incredibly common form of balloon animal, and it's difficult to see how Koons' statue contains very much protectable expression. Yet, it didn't stop him from ordering a San Francisco store to stop selling the bookends, send them to Koons, and to reveal how many had been sold. The Bay Citizen, which reported on this in the link above, put together the following comparison of Koons statue and the bookend in question:

On the left is the bookend. On the right is Koons statue. Both look like tons of balloon dogs that have been created by party clowns for ages. To now claim that Koons has some sort of ownership over the balloon dog he copied from elsewhere seems like a particularly ridiculous form of hubris. Of course, copyright is only supposed to cover the specific parts of expression that are unique and creative. It's hard to see how much, if anything, associated with Koons' sculpture is "unique," and thus almost nothing (or, perhaps nothing at all) seems like it should be protectable. Hopefully, some of those threatened with a cease-and-desist letter will stand up to Koons and give him another copyright education.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: balloon dogs, copyright, jeff koons

28 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Derek Bredensteiner (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:11pm

He has to be joking.
No really, that's the only explanation. The bookend looks more like a balloon animal than his sculpture does. Preemptive Streisandesque suing to illustrate the absurdity of what he's used to?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:23pm
  
  Re: He has to be joking.
  The bookends are the orange one on the left. The bronze one on the right looks more like a balloon animal with it's feet and ears pointed together at the ends, just like it would be if made out of one balloon.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Derek Bredensteiner (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:55pm
    
    Re: Re: He has to be joking.
    Oh. That makes more sense.
    
    Dang, and I had so many buzzwords built into that comment ...
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Rose M. Welch (profile), 7 Jan 2011 @ 1:20am
    
    Re: Re: He has to be joking.
    I agree. The statue is more balloon-animal-like.
    
    Which just goes to show how different they are.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Michael, 7 Jan 2011 @ 4:16am
      
      Re: Re: Re: He has to be joking.
      Neither looks much like a dog.
      
      And is it me, or does this look like a horrible shape for a book end? It's more of a paper weight...oh wait...I just came up with a product idea.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Jason, 6 Jan 2011 @ 2:51pm
  
  Re: He has to be joking.
  I've got the sneaking suspicion that he's attempting a reverse-streisandization for his own benefit.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:15pm

New Plan
1. Make art based on blank sheet of notebook paper.
2. Sue makers of notebook paper and any novelty items that resemble notbook paper.
3. Profit!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:55pm
  
  Re: New Plan
  I've seen a painting at the Phila. Museum of Art that is basically a giant sheet of either ledger or graph paper.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:25pm

Well, he is an appropriation artist. Maybe he's just appropriating a business model for some performance art?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Dark Helmet (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:43pm
  
  Re:
  Maybe he should appropriate his head out of his ass then....
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Eugene (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 3:14pm
  
  Re:
  That's an interesting theory. Maybe this is all preparation for his next installation, which will be a sculpture of the cease and desist letters he's sending out.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ron (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:42pm

Makes Sense
Appropriation: a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; "the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit"; "a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest"

So, by one definition, Koons is a thief seeking to increase the value of his theft.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ChimpBush McHitlerBurton, 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:44pm

Jeff Koons = Douche Nozzle

CBMHB
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nastybutler77 (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:53pm

Potential to be hoist by his own pitard?
I didn't RTFA Mike linked to, but Mike says that it's a recent sculpture, so it would be interesting to find out if maybe the bookends were designed before Koons' statue. Then the bookend creator could sue Koons' for copyright infringement.

Either way, I figure with the added publicity, both parties stand to make more money.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Coward (Anon), 7 Jan 2011 @ 11:32am
  
  Re: Potential to be hoist by his own pitard?
  It's not recent. I saw the sculpture in question 5 or 6 years ago and I don't think it was new even then. It's a really cool piece of art, the sculpture is 15 or 20 feet high and really shiny.
  
  But like most, I don't see any particular similarity between Koon's work and the bookends. Maybe if they were both the same shiny bronze color. Otherwise the bookends look like a balloon dog.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
JTO (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:54pm

The thing is, even if the company blatantly ripped-off his statue and sold it as a bookend, they would *still* be protected. A bookend is not a piece of art.

By the way, all of you now owe me money because I'm going to go ahead and say that the use of a period (.) to mock someone else is my copyright. I'll need your IP, home, and work addresses. Thanks!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 3:02pm
  
  Re:
  "The thing is, even if the company blatantly ripped-off his statue and sold it as a bookend, they would *still* be protected."
  
  Maybe, but that's a lot closer question.
  
  "A bookend is not a piece of art."
  
  If true, so what? That's not relevant to copyright infringement.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- G Thompson (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 10:48pm
  
  Re:
  It's a full stop so therefore I am now suing you for defaming my copyright on your mocking of my full stop by calling it a period. Period! ;)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Rose M. Welch (profile), 7 Jan 2011 @ 1:22am
  
  Re:
  A bookend is not a piece of art.
  
  I believe that this case is silly, but I disagree with the above statement. A bookend can most certainly be art.
  
  Also, my periods are a derivative work. You can just sue me and my ISP will probably give you my IP address. :P
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:57pm

Koons' doesn't have the black privacy policy bar over its eyes.

Clearly transformative.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Park97, 6 Jan 2011 @ 2:37pm

Why does the dog on left have a black bar across its eyes? Does it not want to be identified?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 3:00pm

In my opinion, a copyright suit filed over this would be sanctionably frivolous.

Even if he can claim some minimal, paper-thin copyright over his own balloon-dog sculpture (which is questionable), that could only cover an exact or very, very nearly exact copy, which the book-end is not.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
abc gum, 6 Jan 2011 @ 6:23pm

Some time ago, I remember a story about someone claiming copyright upon silence. This might be a good thing if it encouraged more people to be quiet.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DS, 6 Jan 2011 @ 8:07pm

Breaking News, Koons just recieved a C&D!
Massengill Douche has just announced that they are sending a C&D letter to Jeff Koons. Massengill is claiming that they have an exclusive right to "make douches, and be douches."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2011 @ 6:36am

See what I mean about Artists handling their own business. Get this guy a manger or an Agent who has some business savvy. This guy is a total idiot. He wastes money being sued over infringement and then wastes more money on suing with an impossible claim.
Check him or his spouses friends or relatives and I can guarantee one of them is a lawyer. Lawyers don't care about law. They only care about setting precedents.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2011 @ 11:00am
  
  Re:
  "Lawyers don't care about law. They only care about setting precedents."
  
  Was that intended to be ironic?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Brian (profile), 7 Jan 2011 @ 1:48pm

Bookends are sold out
I found the Park Life shop and tried to add the balloon dog bookends to my cart, just to see the pricetag on such a novelty and got this message... "Sorry, we are currently sold out of 'BALLOON DOG BOOK END - Please call Jeff Koons and his Lawyers.'. Please check back later." Nice little jab there.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ben, 9 Jan 2011 @ 8:47pm

If I got this cease and desist letter I would just laugh.

And then send him a letter of just haha repeated for a full page.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]