Green Day wins lawsuit against David Seltzer

[melissawebster]

For years artist David Seltzer lived in the shadow of his bubbly brother, Alka.

Then one day he created a picture that in no way resembled an earlier idea by Edvard Munch. Said picture was subsequently borrowed by a band called Green Day.

A lawsuit ensued, but the outcome was not to the liking of the artist, who was certainly not looking for publicity in any shape or form.

Edvard Munch was not available for comment, but we were able to exclusively capture this reaction from his spokesperson:

:lol:

[Bastard of 1967]

In 2009, Green Day used a work of art (pictured above) for their own creative use which caught the angry attention of artist David Seltzer.

The fair use exception in copyright law is very, very fact-based and is also notoriously difficult to establish in cases like this. Warner's lawyers did some good work squeaking this one through (unfortunately for Seltzer), yet as always the whole thing could have been avoided if the tour's management had vetted this more thoroughly or if they had asked the artist for permission beforehand.

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

I think the guy has a point and the person who found the image and showed it to Green Day should have asked the creator if they could use it, but as Green Day aren't making a profit off of it and it's not a big part of the show or anything (the image isn't there the entire song, I think?), I'm glad they won the case.

Still, I'd be pissed if someone used my work without asking, even if it was Green Day.

[fiercecircus]

Some of the comments on Perez's site make me laugh. "The artist had been damaged mentally..."

Please.

Hey, as a fellow artist, i can say that i am a very delicate and special snowflake and i damage easily...

(joke)

Okay. Let's face it. He probably figured he could get a good buck out of the boys and went for it. There's tons of transformation and fair use out there. I'm pretty sure everyone in the GD camp is aware of fair use and laws... they've been at this long enough and they've probably got a team of designers and legal people figuring shit out for them before it ever hits the public...

[Heather.]

Anyone else giggling at the fact that Billie Joe had to give a deposition for this? I'm just picturing him in a little sequestered room with a tape recorder. CSI style. Maybe a good-hearted interrogation. With a little torture thrown in (made him listen to Britney Spears until he cracked).

[fiercecircus]

Anyone else giggling at the fact that Billie Joe had to give a deposition for this? I'm just picturing him in a little sequestered room with a tape recorder. CSI style. Maybe a good-hearted interrogation. With a little torture thrown in (made him listen to Britney Spears until he cracked).

OMG, Law and order. Detective Stabler getting all Ex-Marine on his ass!

I love Law and Order. Thank god for marathons on USA. *doink-doink* (<--- the law and order sound. You know what i'm talking about.)