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Appropriation

Richard Prince Finally Sued for Ripping Off an Instagram Photo

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Back in May artist (and I use that term lightly in this case) Richard Prince enraged photographers worldwide when he took photos from Instagram, added a comment on the photos and sold them in a New York gallery for up to $100,000 a piece. All this was done without getting permission from the owners of the photos, without sharing the profits, and without even informing them that he had used their photo.

Many called for the owners of the ripped off photos to take legal action against Prince, and last week a federal suit was finally filed against him and the Gagosian Gallery that displayed his “art”.

Accusing both parties of copyright infringement, photographer Donald Graham filed the complaint for the use without permission of “Rastafarian Smoking a Joint” without permission.

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Photographer Sam Abell Talks about “Cheeky” Richard Prince After Prince Sold His Photo for Millions

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Before Richard Prince appropriated the photos of Instagram users, and long before the SuicideGirls re-appropriated their photos, the lazy “artist” became famous for stealing re-photographing Sam Abell’s iconic cowboy photos.

Prince took cigarette ads with Abell’s Marlboro Man images and photographed them in a way that basically “cropped” the text and logo out.

With Prince selling one of these photos for almost $1.3 million in 2005 and another for $3.4 million a few years later, he became a millionaire off of Abell’s work – who did not receive a single cent from either deal.

As you’d expect Abell certainly had an opinion on Prince’s actions, as well as the art establishment’s attitude towards stolen art, and he expressed it with admirable calmness.

Below is a video interview from 2008, after his re-photographed image was sold by Prince for a record-breaking $3.4 million:

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Richard Prince Gets a Taste of His Own Medicine; $90,000 Prints offered for $90

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Richard Prince has been in the headlines lately after being accused, once again, of stealing other peoples’ work and selling it as his own.

Prince’s latest controversial “art” is basically a series of screenshots of various Instagram photos, along with the uploader’s name and some of the comments. In order for the work to be considered his own, Prince added a comment to the original photo – and voila! The magic of appropriation in its most embarrassing moment.

The so-called ‘face’ of the story has been blue-haired Doe Deere, but while she has stated she will not “go after him”, another party involved in this disgraceful incident has decided to take action, and in the most appropriate way.

One of the ripped-off photos belongs to SuicideGirls, and its founder Missy announced yesterday that they’re fighting back by selling prints of Prince’s appropriated work for just 0.1% of his selling price.

I guess you could call it re-appropriation.

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