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Artists steal. Or, at least, that’s how the judicial system sees it, and even then, it depends on the latest ruling over copyright law.
For example, last year, a United States Supreme Court case decided that a famous Pittsburgh-born artist used someone else’s work without permission. Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts vs. Goldsmith looked at a series of screenprints Warhol produced based on photos taken by Lynn Goldsmith, who, in 1981, had been commissioned by Newsweek to “photograph a then ‘up and coming’ musician named Prince Rogers Nelson,” according to court documents.
Goldsmith was unaware of the series until 2016, when she saw one of the screenprints, titled “Orange Prince,” on a magazine cover commemorating the superstar musician’s death. Goldsmith sued for copyright infringement and, in May 2023, won, with the court finding that the Foundation’s claims of fair use did not hold up. This was despite Goldsmith originally permitting the use of one image for illustrative purposes.
The ruling has sent the art world into a minor crisis, with Artforum arguing that it messes with the longtime practice of using old works to create new ones.
“There is no art school teaching artists to create works for single, defined, hermetically sealed, lawyer-approved uses,” the article reads. “Only in the rarest case does a creator make something for the limited purpose of donating it to a nonprofit museum and commit never to make money from licensing the copyright. Visual artists create works knowing, and often intending, that countless other things will happen to them downstream.”
Andy Prisbylla, the creator and programmer for SUBCINEMA, a Pittsburgh series dedicated to underground art films, will soon highlight this issue with REMIX CULTURE WEEK. Taking place Mon., Feb. 26-Fri., March 1, the inaugural event coincides with Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week, an event created by the Association of Research Libraries to stress “the important doctrines of fair use and fair dealing.”
Prisbylla agrees with Artforum’s take on the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts vs. Goldsmith ruling and its potential chilling effect on artists being able to “remix” media.
“Remix culture and the four factors that make up fair use are already an abstract idea to many in the general public in my opinion, and unfortunately I feel that the precedent this ruling sets will only confuse the public further and give a bad connotation to its practice,” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “The practice of remix leads to advancement in new mediums and technologies while also furthering modern-day folklore and commentary. Plus, it’s just fun. Without remix, we wouldn’t have the patron saint Weird Al Yankovic for crying out loud.”
He adds that, as a film exhibitor, he wanted to “showcase a series of established filmmakers who display the attitudes and opportunities that remix can provide an artist.”
“The four filmmakers and the work selected all demonstrate a wide range of techniques through a variety of genres not typically seen in mainstream film,” he says.
During REMIX CULTURE WEEK, local audiences will see early works by Rodney Ascher, an acclaimed documentarian best known for taking on Stanley Kubrick conspiracy theories in Room 237, and Kelly Sears, an experimental animator whose most recent short The Lost Season screened at Sundance.
Also included are selections by Craig Baldwin, an avant-garde filmmaker and curator whom Prisbylla credits with partly influencing the creation of SUBCINEMA. Through Baldwin and a friendship with Steven Haines of Flea Market Films, Prisbylla says he “started to gain a whole new appreciation for microcinema programming and media archeology.” As part of REMIX CULTURE WEEK, Flea Market Films will project a 16mm print of Baldwin’s film Sonic Outlaws on March 1 at Eberle Studios in Homestead.
REMIX CULTURE WEEK also features an online screening of Hello Dankness, a film by the Australian art collective Soda_Jerk. The selection received some attention from media outlets after its premiere at the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival, with one Euronews writer calling the film — described as an experimental mash-up of clips from movies and TV shows ranging from Wayne’s World to Rick and Morty — a “direct and cineliterate approach to wrestling with Trump’s US.”
“I personally consider Soda_Jerk to be one of the greatest remix artists working today, and their latest feature Hello Dankness is a new milestone,” Prisbylla says.
While no Pittsburgh filmmakers are featured, Prisbylla says he hopes to make REMIX CULTURE WEEK an annual event and “would love to include some local work while continuing to invite visiting filmmakers into the community as well.” He encourages anyone interested in submitting to future screenings to email him at andyp@subcinema.org.
For now, Prisbylla sees the first REMIX CULTURE WEEK as demonstrating the importance of fair use.
“I hope this event serves as a grassroots entry point for those interested in the opportunities fair use gives remix culture outside of an academic or commercial space, while also inspiring people to be creative with their own existing landscapes and environments,” says Prisbylla.
SUBCINEMA presents REMIX CULTURE WEEK. Mon., Feb. 26-Fri., March 1. Sonic Outlaws screens at Eberle Studios. 229 E. Ninth Ave., Homestead. $10. Other screenings take place online. subcinema.org
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2024.
