Artist Jeff Koons defeats sculptor's copyright lawsuit

By Blake Brittain

Feb 25 - U.S. pop artist Jeff Koons convinced a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday to throw out a lawsuit claiming Koons infringed a set designer's copyrights by depicting his work in paintings and other artwork more than three decades ago.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Reif said that Michael Hayden should have known of Koons' alleged infringement "well before" bringing his 2021 lawsuit, concluding he waited too long to sue.

Hayden's attorney Jordan Fletcher of Fletcher Law said he and his client disagree with the ruling and intend to appeal. An attorney and spokespeople for Koons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hayden said in his lawsuit that he designed sets and props for Cicciolina, an Italian porn star and politician whose given name is Ilona Staller, in the 1980s. He said he made a sculpture of a serpent wrapped around a rock for Cicciolina to perform on in 1988.

Koons was photographed with Staller in Italy in 1989 for his "Made in Heaven" series, which included a billboard, wood sculpture and oil paintings featuring the two on Hayden's platform. Koons and Staller were married in 1991 and divorced in 1994.

Hayden said he first learned of Koons' use of his work in 2019. He sued for copyright infringement in 2021.

Koons told the court that his works made fair use of the sculpture and that Hayden waited too long to bring his case. Reif agreed with Koons on Tuesday that Hayden's copyright claim was time-barred.

The judge noted that Hayden lived in Rome when Koons' work premiered in Venice in 1990 and caused a "media sensation and scandal" in Italy.

"It is reasonable to expect that someone who created sculptures and stage props specifically for a 'household name' like Staller and who consumed Italian news would hear of her involvement in a major, international art exhibition such as the Venice Biennale," Reif said.

The case is Hayden v. Koons, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:21-cv-10249.

For Koons: Daniel Brooks of Scarola Zubatov Schaffzin

For Hayden: Jordan Fletcher of Fletcher Law, Linda Kattwinkel of Owen, Wickersham & Erickson

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