Transforming Transformative Use: A Synopsis of Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith

KimberMarie, a white woman with brown hair, wears a white shirt and green jacket and is smiling.By KimberMarie Faircloth

On October 12, 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.(AWF) vs. Lynn Goldsmith, et al.[1] The main issue revolves around “transformative” use under the Copyright Act[2] and how transformative the work must be to be protected by the doctrine of Fair Use and not infringe another’s copyright.[3] In 1994, the Supreme Court considered a case regarding transformative use, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., in which the Court held that 2 Live Crew’s parody on Roy Orbison’s song, “Oh, Pretty Woman,” was protected under fair use and that the lower court erred in finding otherwise because they solely looked at the commercial nature without weighing the other fair use factors.[4] The Court also defined “transformative” as “add[ing] something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with [a] new expression, meaning, or message.”[5] The more a work transforms the original, the less the other fair use factors will weigh in the analysis because transforming a work emphasizes “the heart of the fair use doctrine’s guarantee of breathing space within the confines of copyright.”[6] Transformative use also came up in 2020 with Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., where the Court found Google’s use of a portion of code from the Sun Java API, a computer program using Java programming language, to be “new” and “transformative” enough to constitute fair use.[7]

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Making Attorney Self-Care an Atomic Habit

Ashley Banks is a young woman with golden brown hair and brown eyes. She is pictured smiling against a black background, and she is wearing a red shirt and a black blazer. By Ashley Banks

As legal professionals, we dedicate significant time and energy to improving our practice, our knowledge, our business. But how much time do we devote to improving the way we care for ourselves? When is the last time you reviewed your self-care routine, implemented new self-care strategies, or set time aside for self-care planning? If you’re like me, your self-care routine may benefit from a well-designed system — James Clear’s Atomic Habits system.

Self-Care is Key for Legal Professionals, But it is Not Our Forte

As advocates serving others in a myriad of ways, our profession is notorious for disregarding the well-established principle of “fitting our own oxygen mask first.” But, it’s because we are advocates serving others in a myriad of ways that fitting our own oxygen mask first is so critical.

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Disability Access in the Practice of Law – Begin Making Your Law Firms More Accessible for Disabled Employees and Clients with this Simple Checklist

Derek, a white man with blond hair, stands before a sunny window and wears a black suit and gray plaid tie over a white shirt.By Derek J. Dittmar

You may be unintentionally excluding a quarter of your clients and coworkers.

Twenty-six percent of adults living in the United States live with some sort of disability. However, fewer than one percent of American attorneys report having a disability, which can include sensory, physical, emotional, cognitive, and psychological conditions, many of which are not immediately perceivable by the public. It is unsurprising that most legal providers do not know how to make their services, offices, and products accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs). When our profession is not conducted with a focus on accessibility for clients, and when we lack disabled coworkers to provide their lived and learned expertise, we are giving up, or greatly limiting, the chance to work for, and with, PWDs. Obviously, law schools have a vital role to play in expanding opportunities in the practice of law for PWDs, but that is the subject of a different post. Today, I am going to focus on why ensuring accessibility is both a legal and ethical obligation for attorneys and firms, in addition to simply being good business sense. Read more