Photographers Donald Graham and Eric McNatt Secure Favorable SDNY Judgments in Copyright Infringement Litigation Against Appropriation Artist Richard Prince and His Galleries

On January 25, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered judgments against appropriation artist Richard Prince and his co‑defendants Laurence Gagosian, Gagosian Gallery and Blum & Poe gallery.

The judgments resolved claims for willful infringement of copyrights owned by the photographers Donald Graham and Eric McNatt and “dismissed with prejudice” all of Defendants’ defenses, including their fair use defense.

The judgments also enjoined Defendants from committing any further infringement and awarded each of Graham and McNatt damages in the amount of five times the sales price of Prince’s Instagram‑framed “New Portraits” works derived from Graham’s photograph Rastafarian Smoking a Joint and McNatt’s photograph Kim Gordon 1, respectively.

The Cravath team included partners David J. Kappos and Lauren M. Rosenberg, of counsel Christopher P. Davis, practice area attorneys Benjamin J. Bauer and Omar Debs, and associates Maximilian J. Auerbach and Franklin R. Li. Tomas Kemmery also worked on these matters.

The cases are Graham v. Prince et al (15 cv 10160) and McNatt v. Prince et al (16 cv 08896).