By Blake Brittain

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could clarify the rules for artists who use other people’s work.

Andy Warhol Foundation appealed a lower court decision that the paintings, which were based on photos of Prince taken by Lynn Goldsmith for Newsweek in 1981, weren’t protected under the fair use copyright doctrine. Under certain conditions, this doctrine allows unlicensed copyright-protected work to be used in an unlicensed manner.

After Warhol’s estate requested that a Manhattan federal judge rule in favor of his paintings, Goldsmith (74) counter-sued Warhol. Warhol died in 1987. His art was often inspired by photographs.

Goldsmith claimed she didn’t learn of the illegal works until Prince’s death in 2016. She asked for a court order to stop Warhol’s estate using her work, and unspecified damages.

Judge ruled Warhol’s work was protected by Goldsmith’s claims of infringement under the fair usage doctrine. They transformed Goldsmith’s depiction of Prince into a “vulnerable person” and made him an “iconic, greater-than-life character.”

Goldsmith then challenged the decision of the New York-based U.S. Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that Warhol’s artworks had not fair used of the photograph, allowing Goldsmith to continue her case.

The 2nd Circuit decided that https://www.reuters.com/article/ip-copyright/2nd-circuit-reverses-win-for-andy-warhol-foundation-over-prince-images-idUSL1N2LO2PP a transformative work must have a “fundamentally different and new artistic purpose and character,” and that Warhol’s paintings were “much closer to presenting the same work in a different form.”

In December, the Andy Warhol Foundation petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse the 2nd Circuit’s decision. They argued that the ruling created “legal uncertainty” in a whole genre of art such as Warhol’s.

Last year, the Supreme Court addressed copyright fair use in an opinion stating that Copyright Fair Use is not prohibited. Oracle Corp Software code (NYSE:) by Alphabet (NASDAQ) Inc was protected.

A 1994 Supreme Court decision on fair usage involving artistic creation found that 2 Live Crew’s parody Roy Orbison song “Oh, Pretty Woman”, was fair use.

Roman Martinez, Warhol Foundation attorney, stated that Roman Martinez welcomed the decision of the High Court to hear the case. He hopes the court will “recognize Andy Warhol’s transformative works and art are fully protected under law.”

Goldsmith’s lawyer did not respond immediately to our request for comment.