A French court has ruled that a photographer has the rights to the image that Jeff Koons made into a sculpture early in his career. One of the edition sold for $8m:
The Naked sculpture of the famous American artist Jeff Koons is indeed the “counterfeiting” of a cliché of the French photographer Jean-François Bauret, concluded, Thursday, March 9, the court of correctional Paris .
The District Court therefore ordered Jeff Koons LLC, whose manager is the managing director, and the Pompidou Center to pay 20,000 euros to the photographer’s heirs in compensation for the suffered damage. Jeff Koons LLC will also be able to pay an additional 4,000 euros to the family for having the work on its website. Naked, made in 1988 by Jeff Koons is a porcelain sculpture, a little over a meter high.
Artist Jeff Koons and Center Pompidou convicted of “counterfeiting” (Le Monde)