Prince of Appropriation

Richard Prince is an American photographer, painter and sculptor who "borrows" other people's images by rephotographing, copying, scanning and manipulating them. The appropriated art then hangs in reputable galleries and are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Guardian describes it as borrowing online images (which are part of the public domain) and turning them into high art. The online magazine Art Story praises Prince as one of the most infamous appropriation artist because of the "strategies he uses to question authorship and ownership of artistic imagery." Prince's defence (and I'm paraphrasing in the spirit of appropriation) is: "Hey. I've been doing this for 30 years. No one complained when I was a nobody. People are pissed now because now I'm famous." However, as you will see from this article, the courts don’t agree.

http://theartnewspaper.com/news/news/motion-to-dismiss-denied-in-copyright-suit-against-richard-prince-and-gagosian/