Artist Elizabeth Peyton Sued Over Painting of Oasis Brothers
Photographer Justin Thomas accused the artist of copyright infringement on his 1995 photograph of British musicians Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Welsh music photographer Justin Thomas is accusing painter Elizabeth Peyton, David Zwirner Gallery, and Sotheby's of copyright infringement on his 1995 photograph of British pop star brothers, Liam and Noel Gallagher of the British rock band Oasis.
In an August 20 lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, Thomas's attorney, Terry Parker, calls Peyton's painting, "Earl's Court (Liam + Noel)" (1996) a "slavish copy" of the 1995 photograph, according to court documents first covered by the legal blog Copyright Lately and reviewed by Hyperallergic.
Peyton's painting resembles a zoomed-in portion of Thomas's photograph, which captures the notoriously feuding siblings and Oasis musicians, in a rare moment of embrace. The iconic image bolted to fame during the British pop music wave throughout the United Kingdom, and a black-and-white print embellishes the cover of Thomas's 2024 photography book, How Does It Feel? - Oasis 1995/2002.
Under copyright law, a person accused of infringement must have significantly adapted the appearance of the copyrighted original to a "transformative" degree. The filing alleges that the similarities are far too many: "The only transformation is the medium itself, and Peyton’s slight cropping of the Copyrighted Work and adding different coloring and brush work." In her painting, Peyton adds details such as a blue flower-patterned sleeve.
