WASHINGTON – Artist Joe Morford’s attempt to claim credit as the originator of taping a banana to a wall for artistic purposes was rejected by the Supreme Court. The Court upheld lower rulings that dismissed his lawsuit against Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who sold his banana artwork titled “Comedian” for $6.2 million last year. The Court found that Cattelan did not copy Morford’s earlier work, as the two pieces were not deemed similar enough.
Morford had taped both a banana and an orange to the wall, while Cattelan used a real banana directly taped to a blank wall. Despite Morford’s argument that the angles of the bananas were comparable, the Court determined that there are limited ways a banana can be displayed on a wall.
The legal battle began after Cattelan’s “Comedian” went viral and sold for over $100,000 at an art fair in 2019. Morford claimed that Cattelan’s piece copied his own creation from 2000, called “Bananas and Oranges.” However, the Court found that Cattelan’s inspiration stemmed from a different source.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Morford stressed the importance of copyright protection for all forms of artistic expression, irrespective of popularity. The Court’s decision reinforces the principle that copyright is not limited to works based on their commercial success.
This article was originally published on USA TODAY.
