Protection of Contemporary Artistic Works under United States’ Case Law

Contemporary artistic works are a part of art that because of their particular nature cannot be fitted into the definition and requirements of traditional art. Such works fit uneasily into the concepts of originality, idea-expression dichotomy and fixation as conventional copyrights works do. This results in lack or inadequacy in protection of these works within national and international laws. Since some claim that the originality as a condition for protection in its traditional sense is absent in contemporary artistic works, a significant number of cases have been filed as such works in many cases infringe the rights of previous right holders. Citing the fair use doctrine under section 107 of United States’ copyright act 1976, United States’ case law tend to protect contemporary artistic works. This Article tries to clarify the differences between the characteristics of such works with the requirements defined at international level for protection and examine the United Stateschr('39') case law to find how and under what conditions contemporary artistic works can be protected with the fair use doctrine.