Photog sued for shooting a street that contained publicly funded art

By Cory Doctorow at 10:17 pm Friday, Feb 5

Ginger sez, " A Seattle man is being sued for taking photographs of public art--after he complied and destroyed his photos. The city commissioned the Dance Steps of Broadway more than 30 years ago, and used public funds to cover some costs. And the neighborhood quickly embraced it."

But the artist claims that because the publicly funded art is copyrighted by him, people who violate his copyright must face the full might of the law. The photographer took some pictures of the street that incidentally reproduced part of the sculpture, and as far as the sculptor in concerned, that's illegal.

I think the city needs to find some new art. Let them sell off the Dance Steps and use the money to commission art from a sculptor who won't demand that residents stop documenting their own streets.

Mike Hipple took photos of those steps, and he's now being sued for the photos that earned him $60.

"A large majority of the images were out of focus," Hipple said. "And you can see some of the dance steps, I think, maybe there were a handful of them (photos)."

Out of focus or not, Jack Mackie, the man who sculpted the Dance Steps of Broadway sued Hipple, claiming the photographer side-stepped his copyright.

"My agency, at that point, told me that they had complied with his wishes and had destroyed the images. There was no copies (sic) available," Hipple said.

Man sued over photos of public art on Seattle street (Thanks, Ginger Red!)

(Image: Komo News)