Transformative use defense rejected in Trump wedding crasher photo case

Jonathan Otto took a photo with his phone of President Trump "crashing" a wedding
at the Trump Bedminster, NJ facility. Esquire/Hearst ended up using the photo,
which appeared on the internet, and argued transformative use as a defense to a charge of
copyright infringement brought by Otto.


Hollywood Reporter quoted from the decision:


"Stealing a copyrighted photograph to illustrate a news article, without adding new understanding or meaning to the work, does not transform its purpose — regardless of whether that photograph was created for commercial or personal use."

Hearst certainly argued otherwise by pointing out that the photo was taken for personal use while here it was used for news. That's transformative, said the news company.



link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/donald-trump-wedding-crasher-ends-up-being-bad-copyright-news-esquirecom-1168399