Sotomayor rejects the Foundation's first-factor defense for the Orange Prince license
Sonia SotomayorAssociate justice writing the Supreme Court's majority opinion
Sotomayor rejects the Foundation's first-factor fair-use argument for this license.
“Even though Orange Prince adds new expression to Goldsmith’s photograph, as the District Court found, this Court agrees with the Court of Appeals that, in the context of the challenged use, the first fair use factor still favors Goldsmith.”
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Where this statement fits
Warhol's Prince image: Sotomayor and Kagan split over fair use
The Supreme Court held that the first fair-use factor favored Lynn Goldsmith over the Andy Warhol Foundation's 2016 commercial magazine license of Orange Prince. Sonia Sotomayor's majority and Elena Kagan's dissent disagree over the weight of the artwork's transformation in meaning.
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Original text
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The Court considers the first fair-use factor for the Foundation's 2016 commercial magazine license, rather than every use of the Prince Series.
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Her majority opinion distinguishes new expression from the purpose of the particular use.
After the quotation
The opinion considers the similar commercial purpose of the two magazine uses.
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The case concerns the Foundation's 2016 commercial magazine license of Orange Prince and its first-factor fair-use defense. Sotomayor rejects the Foundation's first-factor fair-use argument for this license.
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Read the full caseKagan says Warhol's purpose and character count powerfully in his favor
“But the “purpose and character of [Warhol’s] use” of the copyrighted work—what he did to the Goldsmith photo, in service of what objects—counts powerfully in his favor. He started with an old photo, but he created a new new thing.”Read statement
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- Sotomayor rejects the Foundation's first-factor defense for the Orange Prince license
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The Dispute Index. "Sotomayor rejects the Foundation's first-factor defense for the Orange Prince license". First published: 2026-10-25. Last updated: 2026-10-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/6724-sotomayor-rejects-the-foundation-s-first-factor-fair