Lynn Goldsmith is a photographer known for her photographs of famous musicians. In 1981, Goldsmith had a photography session with the singer Prince. Three years later, Vanity Fair obtained a license from Goldsmith’s photography agency to use one of Goldsmith’s Prince photographs “as an artist’s reference in connection with an article to be published in Vanity Fair Magazine.” At the time, Goldsmith was not aware that her agency had licensed the photograph. Vanity Fair commissioned Andy Warhol to create an illustration for an article about Prince. Warhol produced an illustration based on Goldsmith’s licensed photograph, which was used in the published article.

Warhol would go on to create the “Prince Series,” comprised of 16 different pieces of artwork, including the illustration used in the Vanity Fair article. Following Prince’s death in 2016, Vanity Fair published an online copy of its 1984 article and a commemorative issue entitled “The Genius of Prince.” Vanity Fair obtained a license from Warhol’s estate to use the Prince Series works on the cover of the issue. The issue displayed a copyright credit to Warhol, not Goldsmith. Goldsmith saw the issue, and it was here that she first learned about Warhol’s artwork. Goldsmith accused Warhol’s estate of copyright infringement for using her photograph as the basis of the Prince Series. Warhol’s estate moved to dismiss the claim, arguing that Warhol’s use of the photograph was protected under fair use. What factors do you think the court considered in determining whether Warhol’s artwork was protected by fair use?