Metropolitan Museum of Art Escapes Copyright Claims Over Van Halen Photo
Written July 20, 2020
A photograph of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen displayed without permission on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (Met) “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” online exhibition did not violate copyright law because its use was for historical purposes and was therefore protected by the fair use exception, said the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 14, 2020. Marano v. Metro. Museum of Art, 2020 BL 258814, S.D.N.Y., No. 19-CV-8606, 7/13/20.
The copyright of the photograph of a young, shirtless Van Halen playing “Frankenstein,” his red-and-white guitar, is owned by Florida-based photographer Lawrence Marano, who sued the Met for willful copyright infringement.
The court dismissed the claims, explaining that Marano and the Met used the photo for entirely different purposes. While Marano created the photo to show “what Van Halen looks like in Performance” the Met spotlighted Van Halen’s guitar, using the photo “to reference and contextualize the exhibition object,” the court said.