Can Picasso case help paint a clearer picture of fair use?

A long-running copyright dispute over a book of Pablo Picasso’s work has divided two countries and six US Circuit Courts, but the case provides an “excellent vehicle” for the US Supreme Court to resolve the fair use doctrine, finds Sarah Speight.

The thorny issue of fair use versus copyright has snagged several times in the US Supreme Court and divided lower courts in recent history.

This is no less exemplified than by the pending SCOTUS decision on Warhol v Goldsmith, which could finally root matters in some kind of certainty.

Now, a series of art books containing photographic reproductions of Pablo Picasso’s work is ruffling the feathers of two jurisdictions and six US Circuit Courts—and SCOTUS has been asked to step in.